Trapped
by Meyrin360
Summary: Nothing is what it seems to be but one thing is certain, a war is coming but who can and can't be trusted...
1. The Calm After the Storm

**Disclaimer**:I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or the characters

**Rated M for further chapters for violence and coarse languages. Might contain yaoi, depending if I decide to go into that direction. Will contain sexual content in further chapters. Read at your own discretion.**

**Summary:** Nothing is what it seems to be but one thing is certain, a war is coming but who can and can't be trusted...

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Chapter 1~The Calm After the Storm

He kept going through in his mind what exactly had happened today; how could he have been so foolish to make such a mistake? He should have been there, with them; he should not have abandoned them to their own… His duty was to protect Eren but it was not just that, he had also promised himself that he would protect his squad. Even though he had never admitted it out loud… Erd… Auruo… Gunther… Petra… They were more than just his subordinates, to him, they were his family and now he lost that again…

The crackling of wood in the fire brought him out of his reveries… Most of the wood he had placed earlier had pretty much burned for which a new log should be added if he did not want the fire to go out.

"There you are Captain…"

Levi did not move. The boy was the last person he wanted to see at the moment. He knew he had to be strong for his subordinates; it was his duty as a high ranking officer to be strong. He could not show signs of weakness, more so to Eren. His mistake back then was not listening to his instincts. He knows that, he should have encouraged Eren to transform into his Titan form. The Female Titan would surely have lost.

"Captain…" Eren asked with an uncertain tone as he added a new log into the fire.

Levi looked at Eren from the corner of his silver eyes. The boy clearly was full of grief and remorse which he could sympathize with. Unlike Levi, Eren was there when his squad found their demise. He saw the looks of despair each and one of them had on their last breath… Maybe that was one of the main reason he was having problems to cope with their deaths.

"What is it Eren?" Was all he could bring himself to say without losing his composer while returning his gaze to the fire.

Eren shifted uncomfortably while searching for the right words to say to his Captain. He had been quiet ever since they had returned to the HQ. Levi was already a quiet individual, he would never say more than what is needed or would he speak of his problems but he was more quiet than usual. Eren's heart was racing within his chest; why he was always nervous around his Captain was never something he understood.

"I'm sorry for what happened today. If I had not hesitated… Petra … They would not have d-"

"No one could have predicted what happened today Eren." Levi quickly blurted out, not wanting to hear it. Rethinking what he had just said, he honestly did not believe in his own words. As a Captain, he should have been able to predict what had happened. Erwin would have seen it coming… Maybe… Would he have turned his back and let them die for the cause? The every thought haunts him; he respects Erwin but that man scares him.

Eren stared at his silent Captain, his gaze always on the fire. His pale skin glimmered slightly from the light produced by the flames. His expression was emotionless like always, you never could tell what he was thinking or if he was thinking at all. Levi was known to everyone to be a cold hearted and violent individual who ended that most people would avoid the Captain. Eren had at first feared him like the others but noticed how Petra and the others were towards Levi and he himself began to see another side to Levi in brief seconds. It is very foolish to believe that his Captain was a heartless bastard everyone took him for. In the short time he knew Levi, in a way Eren felt like deep down inside Humanity's Strongest Soldier, he was internally screaming which worried Eren, he wanted to help but what could he do?

"Captain, how is your leg?" Eren asked with concern as he watched the small man.

"Eren I would appreciate my solitude."

Levi's voice was emotionless like his face, at that moment Eren could not really tell if Levi was still here or if his mind was elsewhere. He carefully looked at his Captain one last time before turning away when something caught his eye. He noticed bruising around his neck that seem to spread lower to his chest but Eren could not be sure due to Levi's shirt. The usage of the 3DMG often caused bruising for the new recruits since their bodies were not accustom to it but for Levi who had used those for many years should not bruise so easily. Other than his left leg, he could not recall if Levi had other injuries but he dared not ask any more questions and just made his way to the door and out the hall. It was certain that he would mention this to Hanji; he could just not just ignore what he had noticed.

Eren's footsteps were slowly getting further as he watched the flames dancing. There was always something about the heat of a burning fire that helped ease his mind. Made him feel like he was home again… Home…

Today's expedition had been the hardest he has ever been on, his leg was killing him, and the soreness of his body was almost unbearable. He kept telling himself that it was exhaustion from the added stress he had to endure. His mind surely agreed, the flames were getting blurry and his eyes heavy as sleep slowly took him…

"… Listen to me Levi! Listen to me! You must run! Run! Don't look back, not even for me. No matter what you hear or see you must run! You must live! Live! I'm sorry…"

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**This brings end to the first chapter. It was rather short but I plan on making the next one longer.**

**Like I said before, this will probably be a yaoi fanfic, I can't decide between Ereri or Eruri so I would love to hear your opinions on that ;) maybe both lol.**

**Don't forget to review and tell me what you think. **


	2. Is it Just Me?

Chapter 2 ~ Is it Just Me?

The HQ hallways was too quiet for his own comfort, memories would come like a massive flood; invading his mind, torturing him to a never ending spiral. He could relate to Levi on this part, what kind of memories filled his Captain's mind he wondered, he had after all knew them all way before he had.

Death was nothing new or odd in the Scouting Legion; one would and should not join if they did not wish to die or have their comrades. Eren recollected what Levi had said, how no one could have predicted the outcome, in a way he could say that it was kind of true but a little part in his mind told him otherwise. His instinct back then had been to transform into his Titan form and to fight back, if he had done so with the help of Levi and the others; Eren was positive that the Female Titan would have fallen and prevented those death that had happened today. So many had lost their lives so pointlessly, most of them could have been saved.

Where was Hanji when he needed her? Usually he would have to do on purpose to avoid that mad woman in fear of her experiments. Could it be that she is also in mourning like Levi? The last he saw of her was when they were riding back to the walls, she did not seem much disturbed, maybe a little disappointed in the fact that they had failed to capture the Female Titan but other than that, she seemed fine so where in the hell could she be hiding? He started to understand why his Captain would often call her Shitty Glasses; always around when you don't need her and constantly MIA when you do.

Voices took Eren out of his thinking before he realized he had arrived in the HQ's dining room. The voices came from the rest of the 104th trainee squad; all had grim expression on their faces including Jean which for some reason always made Eren weird and uneasy. Jean had always been the guy Eren would have thought would not be affected by someone else's death, he always thought Jean to only care about himself and himself alone but he was wrong, like a lot of things.

"Eren!"

Eren quickly looked to the direction of the voice he knew all too well. The comforting voice of Mikasa, even though he would never admit it, he was glad that she was here with him. She really was the last family he had, his father was still missing. At the point he was, could he really call his father a father? Of all time, how could he just abandon his kid? How could he do what he did? Because of him he was now a monster that many feared and if it had not been for Levi back then, he would be dead.

Eren joined his comrades at their table; he could take a few minutes to be with them before going to look for Hanji again. It's only after experiencing so many death that Eren realized that he should not take life for granted and should enjoy every bit of time he has with them. Who knew how long they had left? The thought of one day getting up and knowing that one less face will be present at this table was not something he wanted to imagine or face.

"How are you feeling Eren? Is everything okay?" Mikasa quickly asked with a worried expression to which made him uneasy with the look Jean gave him. He never got what Jean's deal was with him every time Mikasa showed concern towards him, it's not like he had the same problems he did.

"I'm okay; I wish I could say the same for the Captain though…" He quickly said without thinking and regretting it soon after when his friends all jumped him with questions and curious faces.

"He lost his entire squad in less than twenty four hours. He also had to give the orders to abandon the bodies we had successfully been able to retrieve which also included the bodies of his squad he retrieved himself even though he was injured. Just seeing all those bodies being tossed is like them all dying all over again…" Armin calmly stated while starring at his cup as he continued. "He does not show any sort of emotions which makes his decisions more reliable because he does not act on what he may feel on the spur of the moment but with logic which is to be expected from Humanity's Strongest Soldier but the fact is at the end of the day, he's still only human with emotions but the difference is that he hides it better than all of us combined. He cares more than what we think which we also seem to forget."

Armin had always been good at analysing any type of situations; he never spoke if he was not certain of his own words unlike Eren. He was never very observative and never could tell what someone was thinking. In a way he wished that Armin had been with him when he spoke to Levi, his captain's more than usual quiet behavior worried him and those bruises… Would Armin have been worried about that too?

"So the Captain is that shaken up?" Jean quickly broke the silent Armin had caused. He never liked the gloomy silent, just something about it just made him feel uneasy while memories of Marco's funeral came to his mind… "He'll be alright though, he's not the type of guy that would worry me. Actually he's the last that would. Just leave him be and allow him to mourn on his own terms." He quickly added when he caught Eren's piercing gaze that almost wanted to tear him apart.

"Not to change the subject or anything but has anyone seen Hanji? I need to speak with her about an important matter." He quickly ask hoping that someone had seen her while crossing his fingers that no one would ask him why.

"Yeah, she's in the courtyard doing something I have no idea what." Sasha quickly responded with her usual cheerful ways. "Why? Did you need to see her?" She then added to Eren's dismay. He really sucked at lying, Mikasa would see right through him if he even tried.

Mikasa blankly looked at Eren with her grey globes while slightly pulling her muffler closer to her chin as she spoke. "It's about Levi isn't it?"

Eren looked down at the table, yeah it was but he did not want to make a big deal of it. It's not like any of them were part of his team so they should not get involved. By the looks on his friends' faces was enough for him to know that they knew it was the truth but only Armin dared to continue the interrogation.

"Is it about his injury Eren? Is it worse than what we thought?" He asked with a worried tone that matched his facial expression.

"No, it's something else but I could be just worrying for nothing. That's why I want to talk about it to Hanji; it's nothing you guys should worry about really." Trying to sound more confident than what he really was as he got up and quickly made his way out of the dining room before they could pounder him with more questions that he really did not feel like answering.

He quickly quickens his pace, hoping that Hanji would still be in the courtyard. Before he could get there, a familiar voice alerted him to his relief that she was still there. Her ever energetic to almost eccentric voice never seemed to fail her; in times like right now, it kind of felt good having someone like her around. It helped changed the mood but whatever she was currently doing was enough to do exactly the same thing which left Eren confused.

She had her squad members trying to do handstands to which they failed miserably but for the exact reason of this, he rather not know why in fear that he would be next on her list of experimentation.

"Oi Eren!"

He honestly was convinced that that woman had a fine nose to smell him or it was just instinct. How she could know he was present even though her back was turned was a mystery to everyone here, well to him to say the least. Her squad mates were rather happy of Eren's sudden appearance for Hanji called out for a short break as she made her way towards the kid.

"What's with that face Eren?" She quickly spills out as she places her arm around Eren's shoulders. Her cheery expression suddenly became dark and serious to Eren's surprise, at the same time making him a little nervous. This was most definitely a sight he was not used to seeing on the woman.

"Don't let the result of this expedition wear your spirit Eren. When you are in the Scouting Legion, this is the grim reality of how we live. You need to enjoy every bit of your existence and those around you like it would be the last. This surly is not an easy life to live but we must do it."

Seeing Squad Leader Hanji so serious sure was a rare thing but it made Eren feel more at ease for some odd reason he could not explain as he had almost forgotten his reason for coming to look for her at the first place. "I know that now… But I need to talk to you about something else. Preferably alone would be best Squad Leader." He quickly blurted out fearing he would be denied the request.

Hanji looked at the boy puzzled but returned to her serious face as she agreed to his request while making their way to the closest table.

"So what's on your mind Eren?" She asked almost cautiously as she stared at those green orbs.

"It's about the Captain. I'm worried about him." He started before turning his gaze to his hands as he continued. "He's more quiet than usual. He won't talk to me but I guess it must be his way to cope with the loss of everyone but what worries me most is the bruises around his neck seems to go down to his chest."

"Bruises? Can you be a little more specific Eren? We Scouting Legion Soldiers get bruises on a daily basis." She asked as she reached for Eren's hands, hoping that he would look up at her but continued when he did not. "Don't you have any bruising from where the straps are located Eren?"

"Well yeah but they quickly heal off and I have seen the others too but the bruising the Captain has are different. They seem to come from the straps but they spread way to high. It looks almost like he was hit; the bruises are dark, almost black." He tried to explain the best he could, not trying to show the embarrassment to Hanji who clearly was not worried about what he had been. Why was he so worried about his Captain? Like Jean had said, he was the last person he would worry about and what Armin had said still lingered in his mind.

"Between you and I Eren." Suddenly taken out of his thinking by Hanji's sudden words, he quickly looked at her in curiosity. "Levi has always been a heavy bruiser, it's nothing I'm not used to and is the reason why he always wears that cravat. It hides the bruises so he does not get pestered with questions; he's been this way ever since I've known him so if that's just it, I would not dwell on it however…" Her expression grew darker as she looked around as if she was checking in case someone was listening before she continued. "… I would have been worried if you had told me he was bleeding, Levi bleeds longer than others to the point he needs immediate attention. He might be Humanity's Strongest Soldier but he also as his weakness."

The moment she finished, she got up and turned back to continue her experiment leaving Eren a little confused at the new information he had gained. Was Levi sick was the first thing that came to Eren's mind or was it just nothing like Hanji had said. Before he realized exactly what he was doing, Eren was making his way back through that poorly lit hallway until he saw the half closed door he had entered earlier still illuminated by those orange flames but to Eren's disappointment, his Captain was no longer there.

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**This ends my second chapter. Review to give me your opinions.**

**Yeah, I've always thought Levi to be too perfect so I've decided to balance things out and give him a weakness which he can not control.**


	3. A Blood Stained Past

Chapter 3 ~ A Blood Stained Past

"You are much too young to go with your uncle Levi. I'm not too thrilled that you go into that hell hole."

"But mom! Gretel gets to go on a regular basis so why can't I?"

She looked at her son as he begged; keeping a serious face with this child was always a challenge. He was so small, she would often forget that her baby was already ten years old, fearing the next years that would come. Her baby would not be a child forever, how she would give anything to be able to go back in time and being able to hold him in her arms. The years had gone much too fast for her own liking.

"Gretel is twenty six; she is old enough to make her own decisions and can take the consequences of her own actions. As long you are under my charges, I am responsible for your well-being." She calmly said while looking at her son from the corner of her eyes who had begun sulking. She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing.

"I don't know Talia; it could be good for him. This trip would allow him to learn more of the outside world and how it is like down in the South."

Talia looked away from her cooking to face a browned haired man with fair skin, dressed in a black suit with a plain white shirt underneath topped with a red tie and black dressed shoes. His face was gentle like her husband; however his brother was much softer and would always allow her children to win whatever they wanted much to her dismay.

Her gaze quickly returned to her son who had already joined his uncle in hopes that he could go with him. However, he knew all too well to say yes has he ended whatever he was saying to go ask your mother to which Levi began sulking again.

"Have you also forgotten the most important thing Arthur? What happens if Levi gets hurt? The South does not have the same knowledge and technology as we do." She calmly adds while returning her attention to her cooking as she continues. "I'm his mother; it is my duty to ensure his safety."

Arthur slightly rearranges his tie, thinking of the right words to use as he looked at Levi and gave him a friendly smile. "I was planning on bringing a nurse along the trip in case of the worst case scenario which I rather doubt it. Going beyond wall Sina is totally out of the question Talia, but you can't keep Levi inside a cocoon forever. He won't leave my sight for a second Talia that I assure you."

Talia removed her attention from her cooking once again, directing it towards her in-law. He always kept his promises and she knew she could trust him with the care of her children but not having them near her was something she always had problems with, mostly with Levi but she knew he was right. As much as she hated to admit it, leaving the nest and away from her would do more good for Levi; maybe after seeing how it is over there, will be enough to make him not wanting to go back.

"Alright…" She finally said to Levi's delight who had already left the kitchen when his uncle told him to go pack for the trip. Talia could not help but have a heavy feeling in her stomach, a feeling that she could not explain but quickly shook it off and placed her full attention to the dinner she would make before her son would leave for the South…

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The Northern Continent, a large and powerful nation had been in peace for the last 30 years. They had managed with countless efforts and courage to eliminate the Titan problem they had had for so many years. The terrain of the North had given them a great advantage, the massive land of water that surrounded large parts of land had been the key to their success. It was never clearly understood as to why but no Titans would dare enter the lands of water, they would simply stop at its edges and turn away and as the years went by, Humanity was able to gain more land to become what they are today. After a while, the Titans stopped making their advance towards the North and would go down south instead, allowing the Northerns to further increase their own technology, allowing them to live more peaceful lives.

One of their many inventions had been giant airships. Using the base of an actual ship attached to a large balloon filled with gas allowed it to fly and to go from one destination to another without the fear of being attacked by Titans. The airship had been a huge key to their victories to regain their freedom; being able to carry over twenty soldiers and gear, it was the perfect military tool at the time. It was this very tool that allowed them to learn of the existence of human life down south who by then had enclosed themselves within three layers of 50 meter walls in order to survive the Titan threat…

"Our people gave the Southern the knowledge on how a single individual could fight the Titans."

The small raven boy silently listens as his uncle told him about how the North had come to the South's aid which allowed them to fight back for the first time ten years ago. Their unexpected arrival had cause a major uproar to its people until they realized that they were indeed friends. After wards is like they say history; the North would regularly fly to the South but even after all those years, the South had made no successful advancements outside of their mighty walls.

"Why are the Titans drawn to the south?" The boy asked curiously at his uncle. Arthur sat and held his chin with his index finger and thumb before he gave his answer. "That my boy is still as unknown as to why they do not enter vast lands of water. There are just some things that we humans might never know."

Arthur stood on his feet and made his way towards a small window, even though it was small, he could see the three great walls from a far. He alerted his nephew to come see the place he would be staying for a few days. The boy curiously looked at the horizon, trying to imagine with his silver eyes what he would see once there. How different their ways of living could possibly be compared to the North. The grey walls slowly got closer and closer as every minute it grew in size; even though he had been told how large it was, Levi partially believed it. He could not comprehend how it could have been built in such a rapid amount of time to such a large scale.

"Why 50 meters when the biggest Titan ever recorded was 20 meters?" Levi asks, never removing his eyes from the wall.

"I don't know Levi but I would assume it to be cautious thinking on their part."

His uncle's words seemed so far away in his mind as he kept looking at the ever growing walls. Something about those walls gave him the shivers as he remembered what his mother had told him, how she would call it a hell hole. To him it looked more like a cage rather than a method of protection, after all the knowledge they had gain from them, the only thing that had been used was their own model of their Three Dimensional Maneuver Gears. Due to their lack of resources, the Southern Gear is unfortunately heavier and the natural gas used is not as efficient as the gas used in the north.

Footsteps took Levi's attention away from the window as a middle age man dressed in military clothing walked in the compartment they were in. He quickly salutes at his uncle; not bothering to look at Levi as he quickly spoke. "We will be arriving shortly."

Levi followed the man with his eyes as he walked out the compartment, in a few minutes he would be inside the Capital. The very thought made him a little nervous, always remembering the words his mother had spoken before he had left. A hell hole without hope, he wondered what she had meant by those words.

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Two days had passed since he had arrived at the Utopia District which is within the very walls of Sina; only people of high stature were allowed to live within its luxury or the individuals that had managed to graduate in the top ten of the military graduates. The boy had a hard time understanding exactly why only the top ten graduates could join the Military Police since all he had managed to notice was them loafing off and doing absolutely nothing. The Military Academy's ten best new soldiers who could be better off used in the Scouting Legion killing Titans would probably become nothing more than lazy bums like the ones he had seen so many times in the last few days.

Levi began to slowly understand how his mother probably felt about the South; even though he was only ten, he clearly could see the lack of discipline within the military. The thought of the lack of discipline made him wonder how Hawkeye would deal with such a situation; that man had a strong sense of duty, there would be no way that the Military Police would behave the way they were if he was here. In the ten years the North have been coming here, not once did Hawkeye agreed to go on an expedition, he had once been offered a spot to train new recruits in the South but he had refused, stating that he had been needed elsewhere on other duties he deemed more important.

Today Levi had decided to spend his day in the Utopia's high gardens away from the wall Aristocrats who had been so curious of meeting him when they had arrived which had become really annoying. He had decided to write his experience here in wall Sina and hoping that next time he could have the chance to visit wall Rose and Maria; he would have preferred to be surrounded by those classes of people than the ones here. Even though he was raised as heir to the powerful and highly influential Selmy Family, he had been raised to trust the lower class more than those with money for the poor had a purer heart.

Footsteps in the distance made Levi look up from his book to meet his Uncle quickly walking towards him; he did not speak to him like he would usually do but instead quickly and rather roughly grabbed his wrist, pulling Levi as he walked faster towards he had come from. His face was stern something he had never seen on his Uncle's face before; the quietness only made Levi more nervous as his uncle placed his arm around his shoulders as if he was afraid that Levi would suddenly try to sprint away from him.

"Uncle! What's wrong?" Levi nervously asked, looking at his uncle but nothing as he continued walking, not slowing his pace, his eyes moving constantly like he was searching for something or someone.

For what felt like an eternity, Levi found himself brought back to the room he had to call temporary home. His uncle quickly locked the door and immediately began taking Levi's and his belongings and would stuff them as fast as he could into the chests.

"Uncle…" He again said in confusion. Why was his uncle acting this way? Were they leaving and why?

The sound of the closing chest snapped Levi back into reality, meeting his uncle's gaze that Levi finally understood to be fear. Fear had invaded his Uncle's always cheerful eyes but why?

"Levi we must go now! No arguments, I need you to listen to me a-"

A loud bang from the door filled the room that made Levi jump as he turned to face the door; his uncle not wasting time quickly grabs Levi and pulls him towards an empty chest. He pulls out the bottom that revealed a hidden compartment. He gently places his hands on his nephew's small shoulders and looks at those silver eyes that were filled with confusion and knew that worse was to come; trying not to lose his composer as he gave the child his final words.

"Listen to me Levi! Listen to me! You must run! Run! Don't look back, not even for me. No matter what you hear or see you must run! You must live! Live! I'm sorry…" His voice beginning to shake as he continued. "I failed you my boy. You can't and must not trust anyone; not a sound." as he finished, he quickly picks him up and places the small boy in the chest and not wasting time to replace the bottom of the chest, hiding the child; hoping that he would be safe as he closed the cover.

The continuous banging of the door became even more intense, he knew it would not be long before it would give in. Arthur closed his eyes, his ears always aware of each bangs as each brought his end closer. He allowed the last moments to reflect on how he had failed his men, how they would never go home, children who would never see their fathers again. Marian who was only a nurse and also in early stages of pregnancy would never be seen again, how she suffered before they took her life he wondered. These people… No these nobles were nothing but animals, how his sister-in-law had been right, this place was hopeless and now he was going to pay the price for his foolishness. The only regret was having his nephew now involved, an innocent child… There would be no innocence anymore…

Arthur opened his eyes as the door busted open, five Military Police came in, two carrying pistols pointed at him. This was it, his end would come.

"Where's the boy Ambassador?" One asked with a twisted grin on his face as he scanned the room for any signs of the youth but Arthur said nothing. Talking was pointless now, it would not save him nor would it save Levi.

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Levi no longer could tell how much time had passed since he had managed to escape the room he had once shared with his uncle. It had no longer been recognizable when he had managed to gather enough courage to get out of that chest. The men that had broken in had taken his uncle when he had refused to speak; their voices had however been familiar to Levi, he had definatly heard them before to which he understood what his uncle had meant by not to trust anyone.

"How hard can it be to locate just one kid? Find him!"

Levi quickly hid behind a status at the sound of the voices, carefully looking from who they came from; two Military Police armed with single barrel rifles seemed very irritated as they continued their search. He took that opportunity to go the opposite direction in search for the airship, hoping that he could use it himself to go home. He had seen his father do it by himself many times and had actually done it himself under his father's supervision, all he cared at that moment was to go home, to his mother who had not even wanted him to go in the first place. He just had to go against her decisions again, why could he not just listen to what his mother would tell him for once?

Even though he had not been in Utopia district for long, he easily remembered the paths he needed to take to reach his destination. He had to stop several times in order to hide from more Military Police who were also searching for him, he had almost given his whereabouts at one point; his uncle's voice still echoing in his mind kept him from doing so. He was almost there, in a few seconds he would see the airship's large balloon with the crew and Marian who had preferred to stay on board of the ship.

He should be seeing the crimson balloon already, why could he not see it? Why was there a strange illumination coming from where the ship should be? A strange scent was present; it had a strong scent that caused Levi to almost choke as he saw from the source. The airship was on fire, the strange smell was caused by the burning gas; what had happened he kept asking himself.

"Ambassador Hunter, things would be much easier if you told us where you hid the boy."

The man's voice caught Levi's attention as he crawled under a bush; if there was one thing he loved about being small was his effectiveness to hide in hard to reach places. He could see the familiar faces of the Military Police who had been so busy loafing off since they had arrived. He had been right that he had heard those voices before; his eyes shifting to his uncle that he almost did not recognized if it had not been for the pin he had on his suit. He was on his knees, hands tied behind his back with blood dripping down his face.

"You know we could have used that air thing but of course your men had to go and set it on fire and now you refuse to give your only nephew's location to us. How can a meer child survive on his own?" Said a bearded officer as he crouched to meet the wounded man's eyes in mockery.

Even though he was going to die, even though his men had been killed for refusing to give up his nephew, he would never give to their madness as he spoke with fire in his eyes. "You underestimate that boy, he will survive in this hell hole. You might want to get this thing over with you bastard, you won't be getting anything out of me."

Levi carefully watched as a soldier roughly grabbed a chunk of his uncle's hair with one hand and held the back of his neck with the other hand while another armed with a knife placed the sharp blade to the man's neck. Eye's burning as warm tears dripped down his face; biting his sleeves to prevent any noise from escaping his mouth but could only watch in horror as the soldier opened his uncle's throat, blood pouring like a fountain with sounds that could not possibly be human that lasted for a few seconds before he went limp, blood pouring out.

Before he realized, he had begun to run, he ran as fast as he could when suddenly he felt something take a hold of him. All he could see was a pair of arms covered in the same light brown as the military Police…

… His eyes jolted open, his heart racing like a speeding drum. Memories, all memories he wished he could forget; a constant reminder that the world was a cruel place. How long had he been sleeping he wondered but it did not matter, no matter how much he would try, he could never escape from the fatigue he had been plagued with after all those years.

He carefully got on his feet, trying not to put much pressure on his left leg. He had to get out of here; he had had enough of those damn brick walls for one day. Making his way to the door and out the hallway, his uncle's words still echoing in his mind… Trust no one…

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**Hope you guys liked this chapter, I had a few writers block for this one.**


	4. I'm Already Dead

** Number1reader: Don't worry, I won't make Levi into a bitch, just making him human lol I appreciate for your feedback. Keep em' coming!**

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Chapter 4 ~ I'm Already Dead

The cool breeze hit his face as he walked through the courtyard, ignoring whatever Hanji was doing. He always made a habit to stay clear from whatever that mad woman would come up with, whatever doing handstands could possibly bring to the Scouting Legion was beyond him under than giving them a headache from all the blood going to the brain.

"Oi Levi!"

The ever annoying loud voice he had become ever too familiar with in the years of being in the Scouting Legion; Hanji truly was the least individual he wanted to talk to, actually he preferred if she would never talk to him at all. To Levi's luck, he was her favorite to annoy and in turn, she was his favorite to insult, every insults he could possibly think off just fitted her so perfectly.

She gave her squads a few minutes break while she ran towards Levi in all speed followed by Moblit not far behind. Why that guy stayed with Hanji through all these years is something he will never understand let alone how he never had a heart attack with all her antics was an even greater mystery altogether.

"What?..." He asked not really putting much effort in sounding interested, when it came to Hanji, he rather be fighting a dozen Titan on an almost empty gas supply.

"Erwin was looking for you earlier. He told me to tell you if I saw you to go see him in his office." She replied in her usual tone and was going to say something else but Levi turned away when he felt something grab his wrist. "Wait up Levi, how are you doing?" She quickly asked with a concerned tone before Levi yanked his wrist free and walked away, not bothering to answer her question. He could not stand it when people would ask him such things, they were pointless. It's not by answering them that it would make everything alright, it sure would not undo what had already been done.

He wondered what Erwin could possibly want as he walked through the same hallways day after day when he goes to hand over his reports, not that he had any to hand over for this expedition. Not really knowing why Erwin had not demanded one and quite frankly he did not care either. Paper work was the part of being a Captain he hated the most, sometimes he would rather be just an ordinary soldier, not having to actually make any decisions involving other people's lives and yet he still preferred having a squad, he used to tell himself that at least these people would not die because he would be there. Whatever good that did in the end, he could not save any of them… Eren… He did manage to save Eren, could he be satisfied with just that? He could not decide, he just wanted more.

The door to Erwin's office was closed which meant he had to knock; today, he could not really care less and just entered. Erwin was seated at his desk like usual, doing his own paper work, he quickly looked up to see who had rudely entered his office. His eyes bared discontent but said nothing as he returned to his paper work. Levi closed the door and sat in the empty chair in front of Erwin's desk without saying a word; he may have pressed his luck by not knocking but he knew better than to talk when his Commander was working on important reports and other paper work.

Levi stared at a small clock located on a wooden mantel, he had been sitting in his Commander's office for more than ten minutes already. Leave it to Erwin for wanting to speak with someone but make them wait like a good little dog. He hated waiting the most and if he would leave and come back later, he would never hear the end of it and would have to listen to shitty eyebrows' speech on patience which he really was in no mood for.

Erwin was almost done with his last report, he looked at Levi from the corner of his eye from time to time and was amuse to see how impatient he was. If one thing that had not changed since the day he had gotten him into the Scouting Legion, it was his lack of patience but then again, this will hopefully teach him a lesson in respect but deep down Erwin was not betting his life on that.

"How's your leg?" He calmly asked as Erwin finishes his last report by inserting his signature before he looks up to face Levi who had been busy starring at the window.

Levi shifted his gaze unto his Commander before speaking with no added effort into placing any sort of emotion. "It's alright…"

"Reports from the doctor say otherwise, it says that you have a few sprained muscles and a badly twisted ankle. It is rather a surprised that it is not broken." He says as he reads the medical report that had been handed to him earlier. He looked at Levi who seemed to be shifting uncomfortably, he never liked talking about his injuries, and he had always preferred to ignore them and simply continue doing what he does best, ignoring the pain. "Due to these injuries, it is requested that you get some rest in bed. Hear me Levi, it is not a request. It's an order and you will obey." He added with a severe tone as Levi looked at him with distain as he got up and made his way towards the door and had partially opened it when Erwin's strong voiced stopped him in his tracks. His anger had gotten the best of him again, he knew better than to leave without being excused.

"You will go straight to your quarters Levi and no blunders this time, am I clear?" His voice was sharp and severe that sent chills down Levi's spine. "I better find you in bed when I check up on you later. You may be excused." He added, ending their conversation.

"Yes sir…" Levi answered as he exited the room and closed the door gently behind him. Being bed ridden was the last thing he wanted to be right now but to defy Erwin would not be a smart move on his part. At least he would have the solitude that he preferred in his quarters, away from any unnecessary noises.

As he walked to his room, he was thankful that it was in the same wing as Erwin's office. His leg was killing him as each step he took burned his eyes, needing to fight the tears that begged to fall. The weight of his body felt twice as heavier than usual and he was more than happy when he arrived to his door as he quickly opened it and entered. The closing of the door echoed in his empty room that had only a bed, two night tables on each side and a dresser. Levi walked to his dresser and stared blankly at the mirror attached to it, he could see his usual bruises, it was nothing new to him by now, his entire body was practically all bruised up but even though it was nothing new to him, he could never get used to seeing them. He had a huge urge to punch the mirror, he had those urges pretty often but always refrained himself not wanting what would come next from Erwin. As much has he respected him he also hated that man, because of him he was stuck here and had to endure all those deaths; however, in a way he had to be thankful that he was here, in a way Erwin had saved him even though he hated to admit it.

Levi sat on the foot of his bed, quickly removing his right boot and struggled to remove the other one. His leg had swollen more than what he had first thought; a few minutes after he had managed to remove his boot, his leg had swollen a little bit more. His ankle was so swollen that he could not bend it anymore, this was going to be a long day as he laid down, resting his head on a soft pillow. Very long day…

* * *

Erwin looked at his clock on the wooden mantel, already five o'clock; he could have sworn when he checked it a few minutes ago it was only two. Just when he had thought he was done with his paperwork, Hanji appeared with a large pile from her latest experiment. He had just finished with it and had to control himself not to laugh, that woman sometimes had the strangest ideas but she had a great mind and was actually good in her field of work.

A knock at the door caught Erwin's attention as he called whoever it was to come in, hoping it was not Hanji with more paperwork to his delight it was only Eren. "What can I do for you Eren?" He asked with a friendly smile.

"I was wondering if you had seen Captain Levi sir? I need to talk to him." He shyly responded but never breaking eye contact.

"Whatever it may be about Eren, I am sure it can wait. Levi is in his quarters resting, you and I both know he deserves it." He says as he stands up, walks to the door and adds. "As your Commander it is an order to leave Levi be." Erwin opens the door and motions with his hand to Eren that it is time to leave and the discussion was over. Erwin watched Eren walk away before he decided to go get something to eat; he figured he would get something for Levi as well; he probably did not eat anything since they had arrived back from the expedition.

The dining room was full of voices; most had regained their joyful expressions; only a few still had grim expressions which were mostly new recruits. It's something that they will have to get used to, this was the reality of being a Scouting Legion Soldier, they had to enjoy the precious moments they had together and overcome the grim fate that many will have the misfortune of getting.

Erwin took two of everything; bread, stew and coffee and made his way out of the dining room and back towards where he came.

* * *

… His body kept shaking, no matter how much he tried to stop, his body just would not listen anymore. His heart had sunk when he was caught but was ever so relief to see that it was Plos who had managed to steal a Military Police Uniform. How he had managed that, Levi did not know and at this point he really could not care, all he cared was that he was not alone and that brought more relief than he had thought but the shaking remained.

Plos, holding the small boy's hand calmly walked through the streets, carefully taking each one, keeping a lookout for any Military Police soldiers. He knew where to take Levi, the only place they could be safe until the commotion died down and they could escape towards the other walls. The underground cities of wall Sina had become nothing more than slums, a place for the poor and thugs; it was a dangerous place to be but also the safest if you seeked refuge from the Military Police.

With the commotion at the North West of the district, the further south they went the less people they came across, most people they did meet were all heading north to see what had happened. With the airship on fire, it would be rather hard not to notice the flames that had been raging furiously.

Finally arriving to the Underground entrance, Levi watched Plos quickly taking off the Military Police jacket, tossing it away before he quickly pulled Levi down. The underground city was dark, the buildings were in poor shape and the people were not any better. Levi held Plos' hand a little tighter as they walked, he did not understand why he would bring him in a place worse than what they were in before.

Levi looked at the people they passed; most of them whispered as they walked past them, they probably knew that they were not from here. Plos would often reassure him that it would be alright, they were in a safe location but Levi was not too sure, he had seen blood smear on a few walls more than once. How is that a safe place? The sudden stop Plos made quickly brought him out of his thinking, the aged man started talking with a man and woman who were poorly dressed but seemed to be better off than the rest. Levi could not understand what Plos was saying to the couple but he figured that he must be explaining their situation to them and asking for help. After a few minutes, the couple wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Plos as they pointed in a direction. The man thanked them and mustered to Levi to follow, not bothering to hold his hand this time. For what felt like an eternity, they had finally arrived at their destination. It was an old house that was a little better than the rest but still terrible to Levi; Plos not wasting time to enter which Levi quickly followed closing the door behind him.

The interior was not so bad, it looked better than the outside. There was a few furnitures, nothing luxurious like he was used to but Plos seemed content.

"I know this does not seem like much Levi but this will have to do for now." Plos' voice killing the silence as he made Levi jump. "I know this will be hard but you can't tell anyone where you're from, you need to put your past behind you for now." He adds as he turns to face the small boy, putting both hands on his shoulders. "You must trust no one who are within this wall, we just need to live now. You need to be strong from this moment on." As he said those words, he heads towards the door and adds before leaving. "I have to go for a while; you won't be alone for long. You will be staying with Jane and Louis; they have kids who are older than you so you won't be lonely. They, you can trust and only them but I can't promise when I will be back. I need to send a message to the north, now be strong. You are a Northern; the north will not forget this betrayal."

The door slowly shut, leaving Levi all alone in a world he did not understand but he had lost something he could not say but he knew something was gone. He was angry and yet he did not know why, he wanted to cry but the tear would not come anymore. Maybe he had cried all the tears away and he had none left but he would get his own Justice. He did not know how but he would and they would pay. With their blood, they would pay…

Levi's eyes swung open, his heart beating like he had run a course; taking deep breaths, trying to slow down in heart when he noticed Erwin present at the door. How long had been standing there he wondered.

"That sounded like an intense dream, care to discuss about it?" Erwin asked in a gentle tone that could easily be taken as mockery.

Levi did not answer and simply looked away; talking about his dreams was something he would never talk about with Erwin, not even if he were to be tortured.

"That's one thing that has never changed with you; your lack of communication and human interaction is almost remarkable." He says in the same tone as before as he places the tray onto Levi's lap, taking his portion of his dinner. "One would think that you avoid those two aspects on purpose." He adds as he takes a small bite of his bread.

Levi eats a few spoonful of stew before looking at his Commander that he would love to smack at the moment. "What is that supposed to fucking mean?"

Erwin takes a spoonful of stew, a small grin on his face as he lets out a sigh. Levi always had a way with words; you'd think he did that on purpose to use filthy words or insults in the hopes to discouraging others of talking to him. He really had not changed at all in their short five years since he had met Levi in that Underground city. He had been a handful to catch that day but there was not a day that went by he did not regret choosing to chasse him.

"It means, isn't it time you started trusting me Levi?" He askedand quickly resume when Levi was going to speak. "I don't mean on the battle field, I speak on the personal level. It's something you lack in me. I trust you, don't you trust me Levi?"

Levi did not look at Erwin, he would rather avoid this pointless conversation; something that Erwin seemed to enjoy doing when it came to him. Levi took another spoonful of stew, embracing the heat that slowly went down his throat before answering his Commander's question. "No, I don't and I never will." His voice cold as ice and yet numb; Erwin made a small grin as he let out another sigh, taking another spoonful of stew.

"You know I won't give up until I prove that you can trust me." He admitted, taking another bite on his bread. Levi did not bothered into replying but just mustering a ‟tsk" as he usually does when something annoys him. Erwin had become so accustomed to the young man's behavior but there were still some things that he could not read by looking into those silver eyes.

"Keep this up Levi and I'm afraid that will be what brings you down to your grave." Erwin says in hopes that maybe that would ring a bell inside that head.

Levi really could not care less; he thought about that dream, Plos had said he would come back but that had been the last time he had seen him. He never came back, he was left alone with people who did not know, he had managed to survive on those same aspect that Erwin was so against. He eats his last spoonful of stew before turning his numb grey eyes towards Erwin. "I died years ago."

Erwin stared at Levi with a neutral face, ever wondering just how a person at his age comes to this, something he might actually never know.

* * *

**Another chapter done! Hope you guys liked it.**

**Don't be shy in giving some feedbacks :)**


	5. Daybreak

**I have an habit of letting my friends reach my chapters before uploading them, just to make sure it is good and they all asked me if Erwin was in Levi's room while he was getting dressed. The answer is yes and no I'm not saying anything else on the matter. It's much more fun to keep people guess lol ;) (Are they a pair or not, I will let you all try to figure it out)**

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Chapter 5 ~ Daybreak

"You slipped; we're going to get a second chance in a few days. Don't blow it this time, that's an order…"

* * *

Two days had passed since the fateful 57th expedition; the Military Police had demanded that Eren be handed over to central due to the failed event. Commander Erwin was also to be summoned for his actions that caused many deaths; not that it worried him, he knew that Erwin would come up with something to clear himself and resume with his duty. Levi on the other hand hated the idea of entering wall Sina again; the further away he was from those swines the better. He had been fine for the last five years, not once did the Military Police recognized him but maybe it was all due to the fact that they probably thought he was already dead. Either way, a child had died in that incident; beaten to death by a few of those pigs, the same who had murdered his uncle. By the time they were done, the boy's face was unrecognizable. It was only after he joined the Scouting Legion that he learned that very same boy had been presented by the Military Police to the Northerns who had come in search for the men that never came home. He was told that his mother and sisters were among those who came, what happened afterwards he did not know, he dared not ask in fear of having his cover blown; what he did know they had left and never returned.

He never told anyone about his past, he had put who he was behind him exactly like Plos had told him. He never trusted anyone like his uncle had told him but trusted the makeshift family that Plos had gotten him like he had said but in the end, he had lost them too. Anyone he had managed to grow attached to all eventually died but no matter what he would do or how hard he would try, he never could join them.

"It is unfortunate that you are obliged to attend the hearing, however once the operation starts, you stay clear from the area." Erwin calmly tells Levi as he finishes putting his black dress shoes, the only thing Levi could manage to wear after his left ankle was still swollen.

"You should worry more about yourself Erwin." He quickly says ignoring the disapproving look Erwin gave him but did not say anything, not wanting to start an argument.

Erwin looked at the clock on the wall, in a few hours, the Military Police would be here and the operation would soon start. Everything was set, all personnel knew exactly what to do; everything was exactly going according to plan. This time, the Female Titan would be captured and interrogated for information. What could possibly have pushed Annie to murder her own kind he often wondered, you'd think that humans would stick more together in such times of crises, if only the North had not abandoned them, maybe things would be different.

He had promised himself that he would have caught those responsible for the murder of the twenty five North Military men, one female nurse, the ambassador and the young child. He had personally seen the lifeless body of that boy, there was not a single bone that was not broken in his small body. His face was smashed beyond recognition. He still remembers the faces of the child's mother and siblings, by the time they had arrived the bodies had already begun to decay, he had wanted to give his condolence to the family but due to his low rank of only a squad leader at the time, he had been denied by his superiors. That had been the last time they had seen or heard from the North since that fateful day.

Every moment he had to himself, he would go down to the underground city, searching for the goods that had been stolen. With each item recovered, he never managed to get a clue as to who had pawned such items and who the murderer was. The only thing that had caught his attention was a trio of young thugs causing trouble for the Military Police as they constantly stole a large variety of goods from the rich citizens within the Utopia district.

That day, he had simply gone to do more searching when by chance his group came across the trio. To his surprise they had been using three dimensional maneuverer gears, the gears itself was not what impressed him but it was their skills in using it. One stood out from the three, he was a short young man with short black hair and pale skin. His talent was very impressive; he decided that chasing them was more important at the moment than going on a wild goose chase that always left him empty handed.

It does not matter how skilled one may be, when working in a team it usually is what takes you down. Erwin knew that it would have been only a matter of time that this young trio would get caught. The only thing that was left to be answered was when and by whom; he took the gamble and he could not have made a better one even if he would try.

He never went back in the underground city afterwards; the only way those three could join the Scouting Legion and not get a jail cell was to agree to have them placed under his wing. Any action done by those three was his sole responsibility, not to admit that it sure was not an easy task. He had quickly learned that it was way easier to control each of them when they were separated; even though they had the skills required with the 3DMG, they still had a long way to go before they could be considered ready to face Titans. None of them knew much about Titans or how to kill them, what they lacked back then was theory so in order to compensate that lack, they had the great privilege in getting their lectures by divers personnel of which most of them would end in giving him a lecture how those three were a lost cause.

"What will you have me do?" Levi curiously asks as he stands on his feet with a little difficulty.

Erwin had already opened the door when Levi had asked him that question. He looked at the young man dressed in a black suit, plain white shirt and dress shoes topped with his usual white cravat. It was different seeing Levi dressed casually, it was not something you would see on a regular basis, well not since he had joined the Scouting Legion. "I will have you do absolutely nothing. Once the mission starts, you don't get involved." He harshly replied making sure that Levi knew his place; if one thing he had learn within the five years of knowing the young man was not to give him an inch, he would take a foot.

Levi answered ‟yes sir" as he followed his Commander. Erwin hated having to treat a comrade that way; with Levi, he had no choice. Many often praised Erwin for successfully breaking Levi and making him the perfect soldier. What most failed to see was that you can't break something that has already been broken, in Levi's case, Erwin has been trying to do the complete opposite, trying to fix but never had the right pieces to do so.

* * *

Things were not going as planned; nothing was going like it should have. She had made the wrong decision again, she knew that Armin was up to no good, she knew it was a set up but she still went along with it. Why? Now she was desperately trying to escape through the streets as Scouting Legion soldiers attacked her one by one, it was exactly like two days ago, she had to kill, she had to kill again. She was tired of all the deaths of dirtying her hands with blood, the thoughts of what her superior had told her, he had been clear on the orders of which she could not carry through.

Her team had placed their faith in her and she failed them, she was worthless. Not worthy of being called a warrior, not worthy of being called a soldier and most certainly, she did not deserve the rank her superior had given her.

She could hear the loud thumps of Eren right behind her, his control of his Titan form was better than the last time they had fought. She had much more trouble in gaining an edge, maybe it was because Eren knew this time who she was, maybe he knew what to expect and she had lost her edge. Whatever it was, she could no longer fight her way out of this mess; she had too many close calls as it is, again she had almost been caught by Scouting Legion members.

Annie kept her eyes on the walls; she would have to climb it if she wished to make it out of this situation. She concentrated into hardening her fingers as she drove them into the grey walls, climbing as fast as she could. She could see the top of the wall, she was halfway up, she could make it; a little more, just a little more.

A sharp pain suddenly snapped her out of her concentration; her right fingers had been severed as her eyes met with the raven haired girl, steel eyes directly looking into hers with no remorse as she severed her left fingers.

"Annie… Fall…"

Mikasa's voice was cold and unremorseful; Annie could only stare at the raven girl in horror and fear as she fell to the grown. She could no longer think, panic quickly took over her body; she felt Eren's Titan form on her but could not remember when he had done so. It was over, everything was over.

"…Listen Annie we are going down a dark path. Just remember, even if everyone hates you, don't forget that we're on your side. Whatever happens you can't afford to get caught. We will all go home together…"

Emotions ran through her body like a bolt of electricity, she could not disobey her superior. She might get caught but they won't get to her as her body began to get encase by a clear crystal causing the Scouting Legion who had succeeded in removing the titan flesh covering Annie to quickly back away.

* * *

Erwin was rather disappointed in the turn of event but he was able to successfully convince the higher ups at central to allow Eren to remain in the charge of the Scouting Legion and his accusations of crimes had been dropped.

News quickly reached his hears that a Titan had been found within the walls and that the cult knew about it all along bringing further more questions. Things were getting more and more complicated by the minute. Humanity had to make their moves quickly; he was convinced that Annie was not alone. If they did not make their moves first, things will get uglier if the Colossal and Armored Titan suddenly made their appearances.

* * *

"Pastor Nick you really are a Piece of shit."

This was by far the worst thing Erwin had made him do… No make that the second worst thing Erwin had made him do; being tasked to escort that man really was not something he wanted to do, the fact that he was tasked to try and gain information from the man was such a pain since he had no intentions to talk.

What aggravated Levi the most was the news of the sudden breach of wall Rose that had not been confirmed but the presence of Titans within the wall should be enough proof. Hanji had suggested that he take Pastor Nick to the Hermiha District. The district was pact from the sudden large numbers of refugees it was getting from wall Rose. Not being able to go out there and fight the Titans was what made the whole thing worse; he was Humanity's Strongest Soldier but he could not do a single thing to help his comrades.

"How long do you plan on staying quiet? Does it not bother you that yet again we are losing more territory?" Levi asked, blankly starring at the wall in front of him. The Pastor stayed quiet with his head low. "More soldiers will die fighting the Titans, more than half of the refugees in here won't live long either. Another Wall Maria tragedy will happen, what kind of piece of shit of a human being are you?" Again trying to get something from the man, Levi could not tell if his words were sinking in or not.

Levi looked around by the corner of his eyes, the Military Police were complaining like usual. They were angry that the King had ordered them to leave the safety of Wall Sina and help the Garrisons and the Scouting Legion in eliminating the Titans that had suddenly appeared within Wall Rose and to find the breach and quickly seal it. Deep down, Levi hoped that they would die, he hated unnecessary deaths but when it came to those swines, he really could not care less what kind of fate was in stored for them, he just hope it was a really terrible one.

"You're a smart lad, I'm sure you can come up with the answers you seek but you won't get them from me. You of all people should know all too well, if you wish to live within these walls, it is best to keep your mouth shut." The Pastor suddenly spoke in a low voice that had made Levi almost jump on his feet, that low voice was creepy, the man in general just gave him the creeps and to make things worse, he knew what Levi had tried so hard to hide. "Your secret is safe with me." The man added with a small smile this time; probably his way of trying to reassure him but the stressed lingered, who else knew?

A few hours had passed since the sighting of the Titans, news from the Garrison brigade quickly spread. No such breach had been found by the Scouting Legion and that an entire village's population had disappeared without a trace. News of the sudden appearance of the Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan quickly spread like wild fire. Levi carefully listened, trying to get all the possible information when two names he found familiar hit his ears. Reiner and Berthold, two who had gotten into the top ten graduate of the 104th trainee squad.

* * *

There she was, encased in a solid crystal; Annie had been heavily guarded but it still was not enough to keep him out. Nothing kills a human better than a bullet right in the head, with the sudden Titan breach; this was the perfect chance to make his move. Even though Annie had failed in their mission, he could not just abandon her, she was too much of valuable soldier; the fact that she was a Titan Shifter made her even more important to reclaim.

He carefully removed each bullet from the dead corps; he could not afford to leave any clues behind that could lead the enemy to them. Too much time and effort had been put into this operation; precision was key to their success.

"Annie come out of there! That's an order." He quickly demands while removing a bullet from between the eyes from a fallen soldier.

Annie opened her eyes; fixed on the back of the man she knew. Tears filled her eyes, he had really come for her, and he had not abandoned her like he had promised he would never. The crystal keeping her safe slowly began to crack piece by piece until she was free however it had severely drained her as she collapsed on the hard stone floor.

Her superior turned his attention to her and wasted no time taking her in his arms and carried her out of the cell she had been placed, now ignoring the dead bodies that lay on the ground. He had removed all the bullets from each body; he had retrieved Annie and thus had no more reasons to linger in this hole of a dungeon.

"I'm sorry, I tried…" Her voice was low and frail; her vision was blurry as she tried to distinguish the man's features, trying to see the disappointment in his face.

"Operation Furry was a failure, it could not be helped. Operation Daybreak is about to commence. Rest now." He severely commanded, only thoughts of escaping and leaving this dungeon behind.

Annie felt her mind wandering off into nothingness, for a very long time, she now felt safe in her colonel's strong arms. She knew from now on, things would be different, they would not fail again.

* * *

**I'm trying to keep as much of the original storyline of SNK in my fanfic while twisting a few things. I decided to change a bit of Annie's character which will be further explored in further chapters. I personally liked Annie and her lack of showtime is kinda of a downer for me.**

**This chapter is rather short, the lovely snow outside is sapping my concentration. I promise the next chapter will be much longer and well it will be a doozy. Just a spoiler of young Levi getting caught, sexy naked ass . Erwin... Enough spoilers for one day.**

**Review peace out.**


	6. The Devil's Claw

**Some nudity and mention of rape are in this chapter along with some mild violence.**

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Chapter 6 ~ The devil's Claws

Five years ago Levi had found a new family, he had someone to call mother and father, an older brother and sister; though they were not anywhere near as great as his real one; they had however filled the void he had.

Four years ago; his adopted mother came down with a sickness. With each passing day, unable to help her, they had watched her succumb to her sickness. She suffered two long months before she rested in peace. Louis, his adopted father had a hard time providing for his family after the loss of his wife but somehow managed.

Three years ago, Louis had never come home from work. It was only three days later that they had learned that he had been killed on a job. He had turned to thievery in order to support his family; the Military Police had shot him during the day, trying to steal a rare spice: salt.

Two years ago; Farlan, Levi's adopted brother had managed to steal three 3DMG from the Military Police who had gotten themselves drunk to the point of passing out. With their parents gone, they had to provide for themselves and what better way than to use the Military's own tools against them. Levi had already a basic understanding on how the 3DMG work, even though the Southern ones were heavier, their build were still pretty similar. He recalled the first time he had geared up at the age of eight; by the time he reached ten, his skills were already great for his age. Learning from one of the North's best had not hurt him at all, Levi had decided to use the teachings Hawkeye had gave him all those years ago, he was going to teach his brother Farlan and his sister Isabel to use these gears to survive.

A year ago they had been in hard training during the day and at night they would commit small steals here and there. Just enough to survive but not enough to rise suspicions; they had found deep within the underground city a deep cave where they practiced how to control the gears.

Isabel was the one in the three who had the hardest time to keep her footing but she was also the most determined while Farlan had no problems with keeping his balance but he lacked determination, he had never been very confident in the few years Levi had knew him. His sister was by far more energetic, confident and enthusiastic than him but she was also ruthless and took too many unnecessary chances. He rather to take his time so he does not make any mistakes but he had problems seeing few steps ahead; but that's what made their trio well and balanced. Individually they were no good but all three had a skill that the other lacked, their teamwork was what they were best at. After that year, they used their skill with the 3DMG to their advantage and make robberies in the Utopia district, strategically choosing their target carefully and depending on the steal, one would often use decoy robbery site, to blind the Military Police of their real target. Each time they were successful, always leaving pissed of swines behind; at one point, those filth had even come down to the underground city in search for the thieves but quickly retreated when a riot had started.

"So what should be tonight's prize?" Isabel asked with a large grin on her face as she stared up at the sky. "A bakery? A jewellery store?" She continued, fantasizing about the delicious goods they could steal.

"Come on Isabel, there's more to steal in the Utopia district than food and jewellery." Farlan shot back at his sister as he sat. "Food is okay but we already have enough right now, if we get anymore it will spoil before we can even eat it which isn't good." He adds with a calm tone, looking at his sister who clearly was up for an argument.

"Farlan is right and besides, jewellery is starting to be hard to sell. We can't afford getting caught just because we were trying to sell something we stole." Levi says with a bored tone while he inspected his gear to make sure it was working properly for tonight.

Isabel and Farlan had joined Levi in their gear inspection, even though these gears gave them a large advantage in the thievering world, they could not grow arrogant; a broken gear could mean capture and imprisonment or worse, death.

"So what are we going after tonight?" Isabel asked curiously, looking at Levi.

"I say we go steal some salt, it's been a while since we last stole some. About three months ago I think. The Military Police are going to be busy looking out for shops and banks so we should take that fact to our advantage." Levi answers, satisfied with his gear as he gets up, looking at Farlan and Isabel waiting to see what they think; both wasted no time agreeing to Levi's content; if they pulled this steal off, they could relax for a few month without having to steal, that would be nice.

"I just love it when I see some MPs with pissed off faces, they crack me up." She enthusiastically declared, catching her brother a little off guard.

Sometimes it was hard to believe that Isabel was eighteen, she would often act like a twelve year old girl. She only had a two year gap from her brother but maturity level was completely on opposite end from one another. Levi would often be mistaken to be older than her, he had always been mature for his age, with the turn of events, he quickly learn, if he was to survive he would have to grow up, there was no more room to play, his childhood had ended the day his uncle died. The noise he had made after they slit his throat still echoed deep inside Levi's mind, never releasing its clutches.

He could not say that this job was going to go smoothly like he had predicted, those thugs from earlier surely did not help but probably made things worst. Today really was not a good day, they had plan to get a few things before making their final preparations for tonight when those three buffoons decided they wanted to fight and now they were being pursued by soldiers. They were a good distance behind them but each time Levi would quickly check behind them, their distance was getting shorter.

For Military Police, these four were much fiercer. Maybe they really wanted to catch them this time but even then for them to come all the way down to the underground city, something just was not right. Levi quickly made a sharp 180° turn allowing him to get a glimpse of the crest on the soldiers' back.

"*White and blue wings. Shit this isn't good.*" Levi thought to himself, quickly making another sharp turn to catch back up to Farlan and Isabel.

"It's the Scouting Legion." He tells them as he tries to stay calm. This sure was not good, did the Military Police had enough with their robberies and called in the Scouting Legion to do the job. There was no doubt that they were much more skilled with the 3DMG than the MPs.

"Are you sure?" Farlan ask knowing too well what the answer was. Levi would never make an assumption, he would not say anything if he was not certain.

"Yeah, I saw the Wings of Freedom on their back. Let's forget about tonight's job and just focus on losing them." Levi quickly tells them. "You guys know what to do, we meet up back home."

Both nodded, Farlan making a sharp left turn while Isabel made a sharp right turn, Levi going straight. He quickly looks behind, he sees that one Scout goes after Isabel and another after Farlan; he would be the lucky one, two who seemed to be the ones in charge of the group were the ones to follow him.

"*Let's see what you can do Scouting Legion.*" He told himself as he sped up and made quick turns to the right, then to the left, another left. This was by far the quickest he had managed to go, he still had some things to get used to. He sure as hell was not expected to run into Scouting Legion soldiers, those ones were on a whole different level.

Levi makes a flip in mid-air, allowing him to quickly see behind him, there was no one. As he lands on his feet, he makes a small smirk; he thought he would have had much more trouble getting away from them but it was not so bad. He only hoped that Farlan and Isabel had the same luck he did.

A loud sound quickly got Levi back on his guard, he looked around to see what it was when suddenly a loud crash echoed through the air as he was rammed by one of the Scouting Legion soldier. Levi's instinct quickly jumped in as he grabbed the man's arm with the velocity of the impact gave enough lift for Levi to swing the larger man over his shoulder and unto the ground. Levi quickly looked around, there was one more, there should be one more but where? Sound of wires caught Levi's attention upwards to meet the second soldier. He wasted no time in drawing his blades as he aims towards the smaller man. Levi quickly draws out a small blade in hopes he could use it to kill him. This one was a little shorter than the last one but his skills were much better, they were sharper but Levi was quicker on his feet. He quickly manages to slip past the man's guard and lunges his blade towards his face when he his blocked by his friend.

"I suggest you drop the knife." Said the man Levi had just tried to kill as he points forward.

Levi turns to see what he was pointing at. Farlan and Isabel had been caught by the other soldiers, this was not good. If he continued to fight, they would surely be killed. He honestly did not care what they would do to him but he did not want to lose either of them. Levi without any choice, drops the knife to the ground; the larger man quickly grabbed Levi's arms and roughly brings them behind his back, cuffing his wrists and forcefully making Levi kneel alongside Farlan and Isabel. All three had gotten their 3DMG confiscated, the time they would pay, Levi really did not want to imagine it. He sure would not like it.

"Exactly how did you manage to get your hands on 3DMG?" The man Levi tried to kill asked but received no answers. "Who thought you how to use them? Do you have any Military Training?" Again silence filled the air. Levi carefully observed the man, his hair was blond and neatly combed, his face was cleaned shaven, his blue eyes were stern but unreadable and the rest he was just a big guy, not as big as Hawkeye though. Oh how he would love to see Hawkeye smash his fist in that man's face, he would enjoy that greatly and not to forget shitty beard behind him, a broken nose would go great on his ridiculous face.

The man released a long sigh as he looked at Levi. "You look like you are trying to figure out a way to kill me and then escape."

Levi did think exactly that and he simply did not care if the man knew. How he blood lusted for the soldiers within these walls to die, it did not matter who they were, they were all the same. All could die of all he cared, that's the only thing they deserved for taking everything he had held dear away from him.

"Where did you get these gears?" The man asked again and again nothing. "I would rather avoid using violence but I will resort to it if needed."

With a nod of his head, the bearded man quickly grabbed a large chunk of Levi's hair and roughly slammed his face on the hard ground, sewer water running under his face. The stink was terrible as it made Levi gag, trying hard not to make it show.

The bearded man quickly lifted Levi's head so he could look at the blond man. "What is your name?" The man asked again but let out another sigh when Levi stayed quiet, giving his friend another nod.

Again Levi's face was roughly slammed to the ground. This time, the bearded man made sure Levi's face landed into a puddle of sewer water. He could feel the filthy water enter his nostrils, the strong hand holding his head was holding him down.

"We learned by ourselves and we stole them from drunken MPs, just leave him alone!" Quickly blurted out Isabel who could no longer watch as they tortured Levi, fearing what else they would do.

A light smile came to the blond man's face as he gave another nod to his friend, pulling Levi back up, gasping for air and having strong urges to vomit but fought with all his might to stop it from coming up.

"My name is Erwin Smith." He tells Levi in a gentler tone than before as he knelt to face him. "What is your name?"

Levi looked at Erwin with anger and disgust, he did not want to answer but he really did not want his face slammed back on the ground or did he want his siblings to be killed as the two other soldiers had their blades up to their necks.

"It's Levi" He says with disgust

"Well Levi, why don't you make a deal with me." He coolly asks, never breaking eye contact with a puzzled Levi. "Join the Scouting Legion, help us fight for mankind and in return I will erase all the crimes you and your friends have done."

"And if I refuse?" Levi asked, having an idea of what it would be but he still had to ask just to make sure.

"Well if you refuse I will have no choice but to hand you three over to the Military Police where you will be charged for all the crimes you have committed which will probably be death." His words precise and sharp, this man was surely not someone you would want to cross with.

"Alright… I'll join the Scouting Legion…" Levi answered, he felt defeated. What kind of hell further awaited him, surely things could not get any worse…

* * *

Of course he could always be wrong. After they had agreed to join the Scouting Legion and taken to the surface up to the Utopia district in shackles, it had not been long that the Military Police showed their stinking faces. All of their disgusting faces had the same twisted grin, they had been certain that Erwin had caught them for the MPs but they got sour when he told them that he was taking all three into the Scouting Legion. They kept going on and on about they would bring this to trial and it would be the end of it. Erwin to Levi's amazement, he had always a strong reply for his debate, in the end Erwin had temporarily won but would have to go to court to finalize the whole thing but for now, they were in the Scouting Legion's hands. That's when they learned that they were obliged to have an examination from head to toe with a massive washing. Since they lived in the underground city, they, like the MPs said could be infested with lice or worms or even worse the plague so it was routine standard.

Levi had been separated from Isabel and Farlan, they had each been escorted by a group of MPs to private quarters to get their check up and washing done. He, due to what Erwin said, dangerous and rather hard to capture if he would manage to escape had remained with Erwin and his bearded friend he called Mike.

The two silently took Levi to the chamber he would have his washing to Levi's surprise it was just a square stone room with draining holes on the floor with only a wooden stool. Surely this was someone's idea of a joke Levi kept telling himself as he entered followed by Erwin who had removed the iron shackles.

A browned hair woman with glasses and a black haired man who Levi recognised as the ones who had captured Farlan and Isabel came in with two buckets of water each, steaming hot. Erwin thanked them as they made their way out of the room, followed by Mike as he closed the wooden door, Leaving Levi and Erwin alone, making Levi uneasy, he really did not like this and almost regretted for saying that he would join the Scouting Legion.

"Strip. We don't have all day." Erwin calmly orders as he takes his jacket off and rolls up his white sleeves up to his elbows.

Levi was frozen and kept asking himself if he had heard right. He was to strip naked in front of this man? What about Isabel and Farlan? Mostly what about Isabel, she had been escorted by men, this was crazy. Panic quickly got the hold of him, his actions quickly to clench his arms, not wanting to move.

"This is standard procedure. I don't like it but that's how it is or would you like the MPs to do it? In all honesty, you don't want that trust me on this one." Erwin said with a calm and reassuring tone.

"I can do it myself…" He nervously blurted out, yeah he could wash himself was what he meant, not really sure Erwin understood the same thing; there was no way he would ever trust this men, he rather see his head roll.

"Yes and you can also kill yourself not that I believe that you would be that foolish. Those are the standards, just don't make this any harder alright. If it helps, it's nothing I have not seen before." Erwin answered, pointing at himself.

Levi wanted to scream, this was the worst thing he had ever had to do but he knew he had no choice. If he did not then Erwin would go get the MPs and he really did not want to be near them. Before he even realized it, his eyes were starting to burn, he could feel them filling up with tears, he really did not want to cry here, he had thought he had cried all the tears out already. He slowly began to unbutton his dirty white shirt exposing his naked chest not looking at Erwin due to his embarrassment as he unzipped his pants and slid them down his waist and unto the stone ground followed by his underwear.

"Turn around, hands on the wall." Erwin demanded as he dunked a cloth inside a hot bucket and used a bar of soap, rubbing it to the cloth to create lather.

Levi did as he was told, he could no longer tell if he was shaking because of the cold of the room or he was shaking because of nervousness. He twitched as he felt a strong hand touched his back in a circular motion. The force Erwin was using was enough to make his skin red, Levi often wondered if he was trying to rub his skin right off.

Erwin quickly washed Levi's back, then his arms and legs. In the same time, Erwin observed the muscle development of the young man and carefully studied the bruises he had from the location of the straps of the 3DMG. Other than the unusual bruise colors and size, Levi's body was a perfect candidate for a great soldier, of course he still had a few improvements to make but he would get there and Erwin was determined to see that happen.

"That's not my department." He states as he looks down and back up, meeting Levi's eyes giving him the soapy cloth.

Erwin did not have to say it twice for Levi to get it, at least that he was more comfortable with. He really did not want someone else touching his penis, which was just private. Levi quickly washed himself when he jolted in surprise when Erwin started washing his hair. If he did not have a heart attack by the end of the day, it was going to be a miracle.

"Close your eyes and pinch your nose." He commanded and Levi complied, he really had no strength to argue and he was glad he did not since Erwin emptied the buckets on him rinsing him of the soap on his body and hair.

Levi rubbed his eyes to remove the water that burned as he tried to open his eyes as he felt cotton cover his body with strong hands on his shoulders. Levi quickly grabbed the cotton blanket and wrapped himself in it, even though the water was hot, the cold hair quickly bit at his wet skin, teeth chattering.

"Let's go, time for your check up."

Erwin never removed his hands on Levi's shoulder as they walked through the hallway followed by Erwin's team. They did not walk very far, only two doors down. This room had a bed and a table dressed with many different instruments. An old man was already inside when they came in, he had a gentle face that helped calm Levi a little but he was afraid what this man would do to him.

"Ah! You must be Levi." He read on a few sheets of paper, with a move of his arm he shows the bed. "Please sit."

Levi sat on the bed, clinging tightly to the warm cotton blanket, not wanting to part with it. The doctor gently held Levi's head up, looking at his eyes and afterwards his ears. He held in approval to their condition. He inspected the condition of Levi's hair, whatever he could tell from looking at one's hair was beyond him. The old man made a dissatisfied expression, shifting back to Levi's eyes lightly pulling the lower lid, again a dissatisfied expression.

"Is there something wrong doctor?" Erwin asked quite curiously and yet a little worried.

"Nothing too serious." The old man replied as he walked to the table filled with instruments. "He will need to be placed on a strict diet rich in protein and iron. A special formulated ration pack will suffice with regular nutrition." He added as he takes a short metal stick that had short needles sticking from one end and a turner on the other end.

Levi's eyes were glued on the instrument as the doctor came to him "drop the blanket and extend your arm son." He asks with the same gentle tone but Levi could not move, this thing, he really did not like.

"What is that?" He asks clutching to the blanket even tighter. Clearly Erwin noticed the fear in Levi's tone, not long after his hands were on his shoulders as he spoke. "I don't think we will need to do a bloodletting doctor, I think he lost enough blood already."

"Oh but of course, of course." He says in a comedic fashion as he puts the creepy instrument away. "I will need you to open your mouth son."

Levi complies, the doctor quickly checks and nods in approval and turns his attention to a few sheets of paper. He squibbles a few things unto the sheets, probably his medical results and gently makes his way to the door, alerting Erwin that he had seen everything he needed to see and Levi was cleared.

* * *

"Where are Farlan and Isabel?" Levi asked Erwin, it had been a while since he had heard from them, he really did not like it.

"By this time, their medical checkups." Erwin answered as he handed Levi clean cloths. "These should fit you in the meantime."

Levi took the cloths from Erwin, Mike and the two others were waiting outside the room they were in. He was to wait here until Farlan and Isabel was cleared, he hated the fact that he would be naked again, it was such a bothered. He almost brought himself to ask Erwin if he would give him a minute but he already knew what the man would say.

Levi placed the blanket on a small wooden table, quickly reaching for the underwear while looking on the corner of his eye at what Erwin was doing but to his relief, he was looking the other way. Once his underwear was on, he quickly slipped on his pants, feeling more at ease with himself, less vulnerable.

"Why didn't you let the MPs do it all like Isabel and Farlan?" Levi asked as he sat on the chair to put on his socks. "It was not to keep an eye on me isn't?"

Erwin looked at Levi, not surprised at the question, always remaining a near neutral face but Levi could see a hint of distain. "I'm sure you've figured it already Levi."

"Creep." Was the only word he could think of with his building frustration as he put on the white shirt that was a little too big for him.

"I don't like it any more than you do but that's how corrupted they are." Erwin states; knowing all too well of the anger boiling in the young man' eyes. "Once we bring an end to the Titan crises, we will be free; use that as your ambition."

That would be his only ambition to risk his life, he would kill every last damn Titan that kept him from going home. He would kill anyone who would dare get in his way too, no one would stop him from reaching the North, hopefully he could take Isabel and Farlan with him, and maybe his parents would take them in just like theirs had done for him.

Voices outside of the room drew Levi's attention followed by the opening of the wooden door as Isabel and Farlan are roughly pushed in by two MPs. Rage filled Farlan's eyes, he really did not care how he was treated but in no way he would accept the same for his sister.

"Trial will be in an hour, don't get your hopes up Erwin. These pieces of trash are as guilty as the filth they were covered with." A middle aged MPs mockingly says as a twisted grin was plastered on his face as he left the room along with the other MPs.

The more he would see of these fucking swines, the more he hated them. He had to control himself, the urge to drive his fist in their big fat mouths was great but he had to be careful, his actions would affect them too. Levi looked at Isabel and Farlan, Erwin had taken the liberty to sit them separately on opposite corners of the room. They wore the same cloths he had been given, a white shirt that seemed to be too big too, brown pants and black shoes but at least they were clean. Unlike himself, the MPs had shackled their wrist that left him wondering why Erwin had not bothered to shackle him up already.

Isabel and Farlan's gaze was hollow like they had been through the depth of hell, Levi did not have to ask what had happened, he knew all too well what they had went through. Rage was building even more, how sick could the MPs be? He knew from first hand just how cruel they could be, how they had brutally murdered his uncle, how they had beaten that boy to death just to be a dummy and raping his siblings really was not much of a surprise. Levi could only imagine the humiliation they both had suffered, Isabel even though was reckless and never worried much about anything did value her virginity strongly.

The ticks of the clock mounted on the wall were the only thing that filled the gloomy room. Erwin had explained how the trial would go down; each of them would be trialled individually, starting with Isabel, after Farlan and lastly Levi. They would have to wait in this room for their own trials and could only leave when the MPs would come for them. Erwin by then would have to already be present at the trial since he was the one making the demand for all three to be handed to the Scouting Legion, if everything went according to plan, by the end of the day, they would now reside within wall Maria, far away from those damn MPs.

* * *

It felt like an eternity; before Erwin had left, he had shackled Levi's wrist behind his back. Now he patiently waited for his trial, Isabel had already had hers an hour ago and Farlan had been summoned for his thirty minutes ago. Levi wondered how it had gone, had they been convicted guilty or were they now in the hands of the Scouting Legion? His trial would probably come soon, he was tired of sitting in this cold and dark room, and he just wanted this thing to be over with. Voices and footsteps coming closer drew Levi's attention, "*Here we go…*" Levi told himself as the door opened, revealing the two MPs armed with a single barrel riffle on their shoulder.

"On your feet runt, it's your turn." The taller MP ordered in an irritated tone to which Levi took that the earlier trials probably did not end well for the MPs. Levi complied and got on his feet, the MPs not wasting time as they quickly shoved Levi forward. A small smirk formed onto Levi's face, if Isabel and Farlan had gotten their clear, the chances were that probably he would get it to. Whatever game Erwin was playing, he clearly could play it very well; in a way it reminded him of how his sister Gretel often handled such delicate matters, always thinking one step ahead, clearly she would have made a better Ambassador then their uncle, he wondered if Gretel would have been able to predict that sudden betrayal.

Their walk had been short as he found himself starring at large white double doors as they open to reveal the large courtroom. His eyes quickly looking at each faces, not seeing any familiar faces except for Erwin and his team on the balcony to the right; in the far end in front of him was where the head of all three Military branches sat up high in his seat, Darius Zackly.

Zackly is an aged man, probably on his late fifties early sixties, wore short greyish beard with matching short hair. He wore reading glasses due to his old age, his clothing consisted simply of a white dress shirt, black pants which were held by black suspenders.

The MPs roughly shoved Levi forward and forcibly makes him kneel to insert a large metal pole to tie him in place.

Zackly looked at his papers on his desk for a few minutes before turning his attention to Levi. "Levi… You have been charged here with multiples thief of a variety of goods, thievery of Military equipment and supply and attempt in murder of a Military Officer." He calmly states as he continues. "This trial will determine either you will be handed directly to the Military Police and face the punishment they see fit or be handed to the Scouting Legion where you will serve as a soldier." He calmly adds, turning his attention to the MPs. "What are your recommendations."

"I strongly encourage that we take a stand and punish those who have committed crimes. The fact that this man tried to commit murder must not be allowed to roam free." The MP harshly and carefully chose his words; not wanting Levi to be spared.

"If I may add?" Erwin quickly acts as he lifts his hand in respect which Zackly grants permission to speak. "I won't deny the fact that this man did try to kill me but I would like everyone to also acknowledge, living in the underground city, it is life and death. If you are not prepared to take a life to save your own skin, then you are surely to die." He calmly explains. "After our brief encounter and I can say that he has shown no signs or aggressivity or hostility even though I had given him a chance to do so. I offer to have him place personally in my care."

Levi looked at Erwin from the corner of his eyes, now understood why he had been left unshackled for a while. Levi tried to read the man's face but could not tell what Erwin was thinking; quickly shifting his gaze to the MPs who were clearly growing impatient. Zackly had stayed completely neutral as he listened to both side before returning his attention to Levi.

"Titans are dangerous creatures, this man is small and fragile; the 3DMG can easily kill a well build man."

"Pardon my interruption. However, small he may be but I have personally seen the skills this man possesses. He has learned to use the 3DMG on his own, the skills he has right now can only improve with proper teachings. I believe with time, this man will be a force to be recon with, such talent should not be wasted. We need every strength we can get if we are to one day prevailing over the Titans." Erwin quickly adds with a calm face but his heart beat saying otherwise, he could not lose this one.

"Very well then. I prefer not shedding unnecessary blood, be the service to the Scouting legion is enough punishment" Zackly declares.

"I suggest that this man gets more than that as punishment. I vote for thirty-five lashes, a lash for every thievery he has committed." The MP Commander declares with a cruel face. His sharp brown eyes glued on Levi in disgust, he wanted blood and he would get it.

"I object." Erwin quickly adds as he looks to Zackly for his decision.

Zackly looked at both parties before placing his attention to the MP Commander, giving his decision. "Thirty-five lashes is a lot-"

"Due to his thievering, he as destroyed several lives who became paranoid of having what is theirs stolen from them." The man rudely interrupted.

Zackly let out a long sigh, there was no way he could please both sides but he had made his decision. "Levi will be in the charge of Squad Leader Erwin Smith and serve as a Scouting Legion soldier, this is my final decision."

Erwin was satisfied with the result, he watched as the MP Commander angrily left the court room followed by his men. This was a victory Erwin would gladly take as he removed the metal pole holding Levi in place and taking the liberty of removing the shackles. Levi's expression had not changed from earlier, Erwin could not tell if he was content or thankful be he was sure he was going to have a hell of a time with this one.


	7. Goodbye my Friends

**I try to stay true to the main series and to the prequel but I could not wait for chapter 2 for A Choice With No Regrets so any similarity that may occur is strictly coincidental. Some of my friends have told me that spoilers for chapter 2 is out and there is a Nicholas somewhere in there, I have not taken the time to check those spoilers out, I rather wait to read it on Dec 28.**

* * *

Chapter 7 ~ Goodbye my Friends

"Levi! Move!" Erwin yelled out as a ten meter Titan closed down on the young man.

Levi's mind was a never ending spiral… Isabel… Farlan… They were right there; right in front of him and now they were… He starred at what was left of his family, lifeless pieces of limbs; a curtain of blood painted the trees. In the distance he could see Erwin, he seemed to be saying something but Levi could not hear what he was saying. He could tell that Erwin was talking to him; all he could hear was the never ending screams…

* * *

~One Month Earlier~

It was decided that the three underground delinquents were to be sent with the 98th trainees to complete what they lacked in skills and knowledge. The 98th cadets were to graduate in 847, they had two more years to go before then; due to influences from the Scouting Legion, after a full year of training, Levi, Isabel and Farlan were to be cleared to graduate and join immediately the Scouting Legion. Even though Levi had never admitted it, he was a little sad to leave the people he had come to be friends with. On the first day he had met a girl named Petra Ral, she was almost the same height as he was, short blond hair and blue eyes. She reminded him a lot of his sister Sansa, but nicer in every way; Isabel on the other hand often feuded with her for whatever reason he had no idea. His sister had growned more immature during their stay at the academy if that was even possible, driving Farlan crazy as he often was the one being the referee in her feuds with several of her female classmates.

Today would be their last days as cadets, a field exercise was to be conducted in groups of five. A simulation similar of what one would and should expect when confronting Titans outside the walls. The exercise was relatively simple, in a group of five, their goal was with the usage of the 3DMG, and they had to reach the other side of the district to get a flag without any loss of teammates.

"Levi!" He knew that cheerful voice as he turned to face Petra running towards him. "We need one more person for the five team squad. Would you join us?" She asked with that same smile.

Erd, Auruo and Gunther were inspecting their gears before the exercise would start, making sure there would be no set backs or problems during the test. "Sure." Levi replied to which Petra happily ran back to the trio telling them the news. He liked them, he could say that they were the first friends he really had made on his own terms, the fact that he might never see them after today made him a little sad. He caught Isabel's face on the corner of his eye, she clearly was angry and he could have sworn that they had daggers in both of them, staring right at Petra like she was some sort of pest, a deadly disease.

"Anyone got any idea how we can get that flag?" Gunther asked as he watched the first team do their run, failing miserably and would have to try again. Each team had three chances to get the flag, if after three chances they still could not succeed, each member would have a really long night.

"I don't know, they are using aberrant types and normal so we don't know when one will just pop out from nowhere." Petra nervously stated.

The first team again redeploys, only to fail their second try when one of their members gets roughly knocked to the ground. If this would have been a real fight, that guy would have been dead, only reminding everyone that playtime was over.

"We should focus on the higher buildings and avoid the Titans." He said as he watched the team deploy again for their third try, observing exactly what they did, each three times always going with the same tactic. They were too low and just perfect targets for passing by Titans.

"Yeah… We could use the high towers to keep ourselves high in the air, those towers are easily higher than 25 meters." Erd replied, ready to try out their tactics but could not hide his nervousness as he spoke.

It was not long until the instructor called out for the next team. Their team would be next to go, he was not really nervous as he recalled all the things he had learned back home. Stay high and never go too low unless you know exactly what you were doing. Levi noticed a familiar face in the far end of the exercise terrain, a tall blond haired man, companied by a taller blond haired man. He knew it was Erwin and Mike, whatever reason they decided to be present at this exercise was beyond him, probably hoping to see them fail so they can rub it into their faces once they would be in the Scouts.

The second team were having difficulties as one of their members missed their anchor target causing them to fall hard to the ground, failing their first try. Levi looked at his team from the corner of his eyes, all of them were nervous of which he could understand but he understood the meaning of the exercise and wondered if anyone else had realized it by now. The whole point was to see if each recruits could quickly make decisions and how to deploy specific tactics they had learned in theory. If they stayed in a group, they would be a danger to themselves and would cause accidents like what just happened to the second team. The lack of movable space was their downfall however they had done much better than the first group. Levi quickly calculated in his mind, if their squad would split up in pairs and he would go alone but still stay close enough to both pairs and act like a relay, they could pull it off.

"Oi! Listen up. This is what we will do. Erd and Petra take the right side. Gunther and Auruo you two take the left." Levi quickly ordered as he explained his idea on how they would take each side in pair and reduces the chances of getting overcrowded and causing an accident but in the same time still use teamwork of which they were surely evaluated on.

"But Levi what will you do?" Petra asked with a worried expression.

"I will be taking the center path. I can do it, I'm the quickest here and that way I will be able to give support to both sides quicker." He replied as they studied the map they had been given earlier.

"Group three, you're next!" Yelled the instructor.

The group stood up and nodded in agreement, they knew what to do, now the only thing left was to pray that they could pull it off. Team one had failed and so did the second team, although they had been much closer than the first.

Erwin carefully observed, Levi's team was next. He was surprised that he had not paired up with Isabel and Farlan, quickly searching for them in the crowd of other cadets. Isabel was clearly sulking in a corner for which made him smile; was she angry because Levi joined another group?

At the moment that was not his priority as he returned his attention to Levi as the instructor shot the signal shot to begin the exercise and off they were. The group split up into three. Two launched to the high right, two more launched to the high left while Levi simply headed straight. Erwin found that to be quite foolish on Levi's part, his lack of teamwork will surely be what kills this man he thought to himself. The others however, were doing great; they had taken the high ground and were simply ignoring the Titan targets and were just moving forward. If this would have been the real thing, each soldier would have to carefully choose when to battle and when to just reach their destination to which this team seemed to be able to do to Erwin's satisfaction.

Erwin smirked, things would get interesting as they passed the first check point as aberrant types were unleashed unto the field. They were unpredictable types of Titans and most of them would creep up from nowhere; these Titans were the ones who killed most of the soldiers in the Scouting Legion due to their unpredictability and the fact that they were the ones who needed to be killed and never ignored. He carefully observed as an aberrant quickly pops out from behind the pair on the right but was surprised when it was killed by Levi, allowing the pair to continue advancing without delay. Levi was the one being more physical with the Titans; however, only attacking those that caused a threat to the team.

"Brilliance. Did you see that Mike?" Erwin asked his friend never removing his eyes off Levi as he continues. "They minimized their chances of errors by splitting up into small pairs in order to use the high towers while Levi is the center relay which can easily be done on a single rather than a group."

"Those four would make great Scouts." Mike replied

"Yes they would…Hmmm four minutes and twenty seconds. I think that's a new record." Erwin says as he looks at his pocket watch. Clearly these four were a great choice for a team, Levi surely had chosen well to his satisfaction. Even though Levi mostly always chooses to do solo and more challenging task, he never fails to look after his comrades. In a way you could say that such characteristic in a soldier could be compared as a double edge sword, such ways could make him a great soldier just as much it could send him straight six feet under.

The next group to go was Isabel and Farlan's group. Erwin was not surprise that these two would form a team; he had hoped however that they would have done the same as Levi though. Their dependence on each other is never a good thing to do when in Titan territory. It was good to trust your comrades but you are only as good as the skills you possess as a soldier and when a death would occur, one must be able to continue or they also will be next.

The instructor signaled the beginning shot and they were off. Their tactics were similar to the one Levi's team used, clearly they were trying to do the same which was wise. Isabel and Farlan had taken the high right but their first round quickly came to an end when their relay center member got shot down by a wooden Titan. Erwin could see the frustration in Isabel's face while Farlan kept his cool. Their full year at the academy, Erwin was able to learn traits from the trio pretty quickly; Isabel was immature, reckless and high spirited however he later learned she had a tendency of letting her emotions cloud her judgment and let her jealousy take the best of her. He clearly could see that she had a brother complex towards Levi and that was causing problems in this exercise. Farlan had become much more confident in the year at the academy but most of his energy was used to control his sister which could cause problems on an actual mission. All the energy Farlan had used on Isabel could have been use for better things in like improving his skills and his mind. Levi on the other hand pretty much stayed the same, emotionless and seemed to not care much for anything. He was told by the instructors that he had however befriended some of the cadets and he was the focus of attention of the female cadets but he seemed to be oblivious to that fact. Even now from afar, he could see the young blond girl flirting with the young raven haired man, completely oblivious to it.

"What a lady killer, you're going to have some competition." Mike mockingly stated to his leader.

Erwin recepted Mike's comment with a smile as he returned his attention back to Isabel and Farlan's group as they were about to deploy again for their second try; again with the same tactic however this time they switched positioned. Farlan took the center relay while Isabel remained in the high right with a brown haired girl. This time they were doing much better, Farlan was certainly the best choice for this positioned as he cut down a wooden Titan that was aiming for the girls. Their team was slow in their progress compared to Levi's team as they finished with a seven minute and forty-three seconds time but they had made it to Erwin's delight.

All year he had the higher ups going on and on about how these three delinquents would never achieve anything in the academy and all of it was a waste of time. Teaching them was certainly a challenge, being individuals from the underground city, none of them had been able to learn how to write and read which needed to be thought but he never believed for a moment that Levi did not know. He learned much too quickly compared to his siblings and even with this piece of fact, he had no trouble believing that Isabel and Farlan were actual siblings, Levi on the other hand, he could not. There was just something about Levi that just did not fit with the two others, he just did not seem to belong there. It was something Erwin just could not explain.

Erwin's thoughts were quickly interrupted when he notices a man walk up to Levi, he recognised the man as being a member of the cults. He sees him hand something to Levi, the young man looks at the paper a while before handing it back to the man. Whatever it was about the man was satisfied with the answer he had gotten as he left. Erwin kept his eyes on the man as Levi was shortly joined by instructor.

Levi had been dismissed by the instructor, he was officially a graduate and would be on his way with his siblings to the Scouting Legion, not that he really cared for. Petra gave her goodbyes with tear filled eyes for which he could never understand girls. They were always crying and had constant mood swings, and they say that Titans are dangerous creatures; clearly whoever said that as never seen a woman on her periods, now that is a dangerous creature.

"That was an impressive exercise you did there."

Levi turned around to meet the man he hated the most, what he would not do to end him. He really would love just to be able punch him in the face, which would satisfy him very much. Levi still had not forgotten that humiliating day in the dungeon where he had to strip naked, not that it seemed to bother Erwin or did it seem to really bother him that his sister had been raped by several men.

"We will be deploying for our 40th expedition outside the walls in a month. With what I saw today, I'm confident you three will be fine." Erwin states as Isabel and Farlan joins them as they prepare to leave for the HQ.

* * *

A week had passed since they had graduated, Levi had a hard time to get to talk with his siblings, Erwin seemed to do everything to keep them apart but he had managed to give them a message by slipping a piece of paper inside of their pockets. He was thankful that they now could read, he had wanted to give the information he had gotten from that man who named himself Nicholas. He wanted them to take a job for him and the job was pretty direct and simple, kill Erwin Smith. Without a doubt they could pull it off and Levi knew exactly when to do it too. They would use the upcoming expedition to their advantage and kill Erwin there or manage to get him eaten by a Titan. No one would say anything about the Squad Leader's sudden death, people die on expeditions, and he would be no different.

"Hey Levi!" He recognized that annoying voice, an annoying and irritating voice that could only belong to Hanji Zoe. She used to be in the squad commanded under Erwin and had just been given her own squad of which she was in charge of experiments and gathering Intel on Titans. Everyone in the scouts often talked on how she had a great mind, to him she was just a crazy lunatic who needed to be thrown inside a whole and shut it sealed tight.

"What do you want shitty glasses." He asked not really caring and not bothering to place any emotions.

"Hey that's not very nice you know Levi." She replied in her usual ways, not seeming to care every time he insults her. "Erwin wants to see you about the next expedition." She added pointing where Erwin was.

He was sitting at a table in the courtyard with the shitty beard sitting with him. Those two were practically always together which made Levi wonder if they actually slept together, if not he was sure it was close enough and at the same time just creepy. Levi made his way to Erwin, even though he was not the Commander of the Scouting Legion, he had a lot of influence in it; Keith seemed to have a lot of confidence and trust in the man, he too was probably mad though. Anyone willing to trust Erwin was seriously sick and demented.

"What do you want." He asked coldly which was received negatively from Mike as he lifts his right hand and violently swings it, smacking Levi hard on his left Cheek causing him to lose his balance from the unexpected slap. His head was ringing as he places his hand on his burning cheek, feeling warm and wet liquid touch his skin from his busted lip.

Mike was however was not finished, he had about enough of this Levi's rudeness. Ever since he had joined the Scouts, he had been nothing but disrespectful towards them and especially to Erwin which was simply unacceptable. Mike quickly grabbed the shorter man's collar with his left hands, causing Levi to stand on the tip of his toes, clenches his right fist and was about to give a good swing when Erwin's voice stopped him.

"That's enough Mike, he has the right to express himself." He says, not bothering to get up but he did not have any sympathies either. "In three weeks, you will be in Brown's squad along with Isabel and Farlan." He added as he got to his feet and walks up to Levi, placing a hand on his shoulder as Mike releases his hold on the young man. "I have faith you will pull through."

Levi watches as Erwin walks away followed by Mike. He wipes the blood that was still coming out of his lip, good thing he had a handkerchief in his pocket as he uses it to put pressure on his it. That man was a hard man to read, all week he did everything to keep them apart and now he was placing them in the same team. Levi did not mind, they could easily leave Brown's squad and do their job, Brown himself was a skilled soldier but Levi did not know much more about him or his members.

* * *

The expedition was going poorly, the presence of fog had been unexpected as it kept getting thicker and thicker by the minute. Levi could barely see his squad leader in front of him, yet alone his teammates. Isabel and Farlan had long lost interest in the job, both were uneasy with the current situation, the lack of visibility was bad as they could not tell if a Titan lurked behind the thick fog.

Levi however was determined to get the job done as he went on his own much to his siblings' dismay. After galloping with his horse through the foggy maze, he had finally managed to find his target. He was alone, he could not see that shitty beard anywhere and Erwin was just in the perfect position, back turned towards him. With a quick leap, Levi could cut the man's head off, he just had to jump and launch his anchors but he could not move. Levi had a bad feeling in his guts, something was not right as fear crept in his mind; quickly turning away from his target to return to his team, he would deal with Erwin later.

Where had they gone? He rode and rode but he could not see them, he could hear loud thumps in the distance, the sound of Titan footsteps, one was nearby for sure but where? The fog was starting thin out as he rode, he must be getting further away from water source with satisfaction to immediately wish the fog had stayed. The trees were soaked with blood, he knew all too well what's blood it was; as he carefully advance on horseback he would see limbs of dead comrades, hoping and praying that they were not Isabel's or Farlan's.

Levi sped up his pace, he regretted then for having left his squad as fear took over his body when a familiar scream brought him back to reality. It was Isabel. He knew it was, what was happening he wondered as he went on a full run towards the source. Sounds of the 3DMG wires filled the air as several ten meter Titans came into his view. His Squad Leader Brown was fighting the beasts with everything he had; Levi quickly took flight, drawing his blades and quickly strikes and kills a nearby Titan, his eyes landing on an injured Farlan in the distance. Isabel quickly strikes a Titan however completely oblivious to the Titan behind her as it lunges towards her, biting her right arm off causing her to fall in pain in front of her brother.

Levi could no longer move as he falls to his knees, agonizing screams filling the air, his eyes fixed on his siblings. Why must they have to die? Why? He just wanted to go home, he was going to go home and bring them with him, why must this happen? Farlan held his sister in his arms, blood dripping down his face, he knew this was it, it was not the way he had wanted to go, he wanted to grow old and eventually find someone he could love. He wanted to see his sister get married to the man she loved, he wanted his own family but it was not meant to be.

* * *

This was bad, it was already bad enough being in Titan territory alone as it is, they really did not need that fog; he wondered how the young trio was doing, were they doing well he kept asking himself.

A cracking sound of branches hit his ears as he quickly turns around to see nothing but gave nothing of it and quickly joins Mike whom he had seen pass.

"I saw a black glare of a black flare in the mist over there and it's stinking of Titans." Mike states while looking at Erwin, waiting for orders.

"Aberrants in this fog is bad and from that direction, that's the right flank if I'm not mistaken, it's where Brown's squad should be." He replied giving a look of urgency to Mike. He worried over the young trio, this was their first expedition and this was just not their day. Even the most experience soldiers would have a hard time fighting in these conditions.

Erwin could ear sounds of wires in the distance mixed with roars of Titans. Those in particular did not bother him but the sound of the hysterical screams quickly made Mike and Erwin speed up. The fog was getting thinner as they went forward, blood of his comrades had painted the trees crimson, Erwin could see it had been a massacre but wasted no time telling Mike to split up and give support to the survivors.

His eyes quickly landed on the bloodied bodies of Isabel and Farlan on the ground. He was holding his sister in his arms who had lost an arm herself and was bleeding out. She kept yelling for Levi as a Titan came towards them. Erwin looked at the direction she was looking at, Levi on his knees in shock, Erwin had to move fast.

He quickly launches his anchors to the Titan that was coming towards the injured siblings, wasting no time slicing up the nape but his efforts was futile as he looks back towards the siblings, another Titan behind them. There was no way he could kill that one, he had to choose; if he saved them he would not be able to avoid it and he would be the one to die or he could let them die. With their injuries, they were already dead, there was no chance for them reaching the wall alive, he hated this but he had not choice, his decision was final he had to let them go.

Erwin turned his attention to Levi whose mind clearly was gone, his face revealed the horror of what he had just seen. Erwin's heart sunk when a Titan showed up from nowhere behind the young man.

"Levi! Move!" Erwin yelled out as the ten meter Titan closed down on Levi but it was hopeless, he was not moving.

Blood splattered from behind the ten meter Titan as it collapse to Erwin's relief seeing Mike, not wasting any time and picking Levi up under his arm and retreated on Erwin's order not looking back at the grim fate their comrades had faced.

Erwin no longer could tell how much time had passed since they had rescued Levi from the swarm of Titans. It was unusual for so many Titans to gather to a single place with so little humans, the young trio were just out of luck. Maybe he should have placed them in his squad and not on Brown's but he could only have put one in his squad, obliging to separate the siblings. He at least wanted them to be together, thinking that it would have made their first expedition much easier for them but he was wrong and it caused them their lives. He liked each of them, yes they had been trouble but he liked each one of them and he was the one who killed them.

The fog was beginning to disappear, Erwin and Mike were able to rejoin the rest of the Scouts who had camped in an abandoned small village. Mike had placed the shocked Levi in a wooden wagon as he stayed by his side while Erwin gave his report to his commander. He regrettably informed the loss they had received much to Keith's disappointment. They had lost too many men today and learned absolutely nothing useful to humanity; once again they would return to the wall with a failed expedition.

Erwin was dismissed and returned to Mike and Levi. The young man was still in a state of shock but had begun to regain his composer but he could tell that he would never be the same again.

"Were going back." He told Mike as he mounted on his horse. Mike did not bother to get up and watched as the dead bodies were being recovered. Most were just pieces of limbs as he recognised the smashed bodies of Farlan and Isabel being transported, they had been stomped on, and he could not decide if being crushed to death was better than being eaten alive but at least Levi would have closer to mourn the dead bodies. Erwin had ridden to the bodies, unmounted and crouched to view at the young siblings removing something from the body of the girl of which Mike could not say what it was and just watched Erwin mount his horse again and rode off to join the Commander.

Keith shouted the orders to leave and head straight for the wall, the moving of the wagon snapped Levi out of his daze, the numbness not going away. The images of that Titan crushing Isabel and Farlan kept going through in his mind, the realization that he was alone again.

* * *

The Scouting Legion had been negatively received in the Shingashina District, their commander had lost it when he had given Brown's arm to his mother. The reality had begun to be too much for the middle aged man, the deaths on his shoulders were beginning to be too much to bear.

Erwin had noticed a young boy who had viewed them in such high regards but was unable to return the same smile the child had given. Too many deaths with no results, there was nothing to smile about that.

He had finished cleaning up, looked at his face in the mirror, telling himself that he did what he could, there was nothing else he could have done. No matter how hard he would dwell on it, it would not change what took place. The dead would not come back, he stared at the necklace he had taken from Isabel's corpse, he had managed to remove the blood from it, the only thing that could be salvaged from the siblings; he debated with himself if he should give it to Levi or if he should wait until things calmed down.

He walks to his night table and places the necklace in the top drawer, shuts it silently as a sigh escapes his mouth. "Are you going to do it this time?" He asks, gazing at the stone wall in front of him, knowing the young man's presence behind him who had stayed quiets as he slowly turns to face the short raven haired man. Face stricken with grief and confusion, he could just imagine the chaos in that head of his, this was a man who simply had nothing to lose.

"If you are to kill me, I suggest you do it now. You won't get a better chance than this." He says as he studies the young man armed with a knife. How he had managed to acquire one without anyone knowing was still very impressive considering his mental state was.

This man had caused more pain to him than those damn MPs had, killing this wretched man should be easy, he let Isabel and Farlan die, he did not even try to save them so why was he frozen like that? He felt his eyes burn as they filled with tears blurring his vision, he did not want to cry, he would not cry; that's what this filthy man wants.

Erwin could see the conflicting emotions in the young man; deciding to press his luck with mind games was probably his only chance to get out of this situation. "It's hard to do it isn't it?" He started taking a step forward. "Killing someone is not like stealing isn't it?" He asks, loving the reaction he was getting from Levi, his silver orb attentive to Erwin as he held the knife shakily with both his hands. He takes another small step extending a hand towards the young man, he would dare to press his luck. "You're not the murdering type Levi… Give me the knife."

Tears began to slide down his cheeks, he was angry at himself for allowing to show so much weakness. All he had to do was plunge that knife in that man's chest and it would be all over, why was that so hard to do?

The sound of the door opening made Levi jump in surprise as panic filled Levi's mind when Mike came through the door with blades drawn but quickly became confuse when Erwin told him to stand down. "Doing Nicholas' bidding will have you killed Levi. All you have seen today, you can thank Nicholas for cutting our budget for the Scouting Legion. You want to end this? Give me the knife." Taking another step towards the youth, he was gambling, he was in the perfect spot for Levi to lunge the knife but he had to take the gamble.

Even though Erwin had told him to stand down, Mike was ready to strike, there was no way he would allow this runt to murder his leader. He could feel his heart pounding like a drum as he held the handle of his blade tighter and relented his grip when the sound of the knife clang to the stone floor. Levi had collapse on his knees, his hands clutching to his head; no longer able to hold the emotions in any longer as he let it all out in an uncontrollable sob. Erwin had slid the small blade away towards Mike to pick up as he held the youth in a hug. Running footstep made Erwin look towards the door to see an out of breath Keith.

"Wall Maria just got breached!" He loudly said, ignoring the sobbing Levi as he added. "Gear up! Every movable soldier to their station!"


	8. Live For the Dead

Chapter 8 ~ Live for the Dead

Within eight hours, Wall Maria was completely taken over by Titans; many people died as they tried to flee to refugee camps within Wall Rose. With the food shortage, most of the survivors had been sent back within Titan territory in order to try and reclaim the land they had lost to the Titan advancement. The Scouting Legion had been immediately dispatched to the war zone, losing more than half of their men in the process.

Standing on Wall Rose, Erwin stared at the Titans who now occupied what was once theirs, this was a massive blow for Humanity. What remained of the Scouts, Erwin could see their desperation of the lost; Levi had done well considering the state he was in but he was at his limit, they were all at their breaking points.

"Wall Maria is lost… We retreat…" Keith ordered with a beaten tone as he made his way down the wall with his 3DMG. The others did not complain as they quietly followed their leader. Erwin placed his hand on Levi's shoulder, telling him that it was time to go. He remained numbly quiet as he followed Erwin, Mike tailing not far behind.

* * *

The world was a cruel place, he lived for five years in fear of the people within these walls, maybe because he had lived in the underground city for so long, and he never thought he would know the fear of the Titans. It was only after he had joined the Scouting Legion he realised just how unmatched the South was compared to the North. He never woke up one morning with the fear and worry of his home being destroyed by these creatures.

He sat on the cold stone floor in the corner of his room, blankly starring at the knife he had managed to take. The pain he had to endure all those years, the countless murders he had witness in that dark underground city, the countless screams of women who were being raped in the night, the ones close to him always dying; he could not endure it anymore. He wanted the screams to go away, the memories to fade and never return. He wanted the warm summer sun to hit his face again as he would curiously watch Hawkeye come up with a new invention. He wanted to hear the songs his sisters would sing for their own leisure, he wanted to go home, get scolded by his mother. He would never see all of them again, it would not be long until Wall Rose falls and the end, he did not want to get eaten, and he would rather die.

Levi held the knife tighter in his right hand, the sharp blade touching the skin of his wrist, he was sick of it all and he would end it as he pressed the blade, digging into his skin; blood pouring out of the wound. Levi flinched from the pain but he did not care as he takes the blade in his other hand pressing the sharp metal into his other wrist, crimson painted his skin as it poured out. He allowed the blade to fall to the floor, now waiting for death to claim him; it was not as fast as he hoped. He starred at the blood now soaking his clothes, his white pants were now crimson from his blood. To think all his life he had always been careful not injure himself, to think that this would have been the way he would go. The room was beginning to spin, his head felt lite, his eyes were getting heavy not that he would fight it, it was about time as he allowed himself to go…

* * *

"What a nightmare. We surely did not need this today." He says followed by a sigh as he walks down the hallway with Mike. Erwin was beyond exhausted, he honestly did not think anyone could ever become this fatigued, fate just seemed to enjoy proving him wrong.

"Their holding the funeral for the dead men we brought back. Are you going to assist?" Mike asked, knowing the answer, Erwin never liked funerals, it was just something to bring down morals.

"No… I'm just going to check on Levi and I'm off for the night." He replied, rubbing his temples. The only thing he can be thankful of the loss they got was the fact that no one wanted to cut their budget anymore, well for now the least. Some were saying if the Scouting Legion had more they could be much more efficient and could probably have prevented the recent tragedy from occurring.

"Humph… Let's hope he does not try to kill you this time." A grin formed on the bearded man's face which was greeted by Erwin.

Erwin was not worried, he was positive that Levi would not try that again, if he really wanted to do it, he would have done so back then even with Mike present. Maybe Levi had what it took to kill someone, maybe he had already killed before but he did not seem to be the kind who could just kill like that. If he had killed someone before, it was probably in an adrenaline moment where his life was on the line.

"What is it?" Erwin ask as he watches Mike sniff the air.

"There's a foul scent in the air…" He says as he continues to sniff, walking towards the closed door to Levi's room. "What the hell is he doing?" He adds as he tries to open the door but is unable to do so.

Erwin knocks on the door, demands that Levi opens the door, nothing. "Levi! Open this door!" He demands again, again they are greeted with silent. He did not like it, this door was going to open; he quickly backs away, takes his balance and kicks on the door. The loud noises he was making quickly attracted attention from the nearby Scouts, most of them were puzzled while others muttered to themselves that the runt must have finally gotten on Erwin's last nerve.

After a few violent beating, the door gave way under Erwin's boot as he removes the broken pieces of wood, enough to allow him to skin in through while Mike continued to remove the remnants of the door as he pinch his nose, the room smelled foul, he recognized the scent, the scent of blood.

Erwin quickly got on his knees next to the unconscious Levi sitting in a pool of blood. Erwin quickly felt for a pulse to his relief there was one, faint but it was still there. He quickly inspected the body to find he had slit both his wrist.

"Get me a doctor now!" He yelled as he picks Levi up in his arms, placing him on the nearby bed. He quickly rips the cotton sheet and starts using it to try and stop the bleeding by applying pressure, he lifts his head to find that Hanji had come to help him as she put her attention to Levi's other wrist. He looks up, he could hear murmurs in the hallway, Nanaba had brought a bucket of water, not really sure what she should do as she starred at the barely alive body of what most of the Scout called a runt. She felt sorry for Levi, no one had even bothered to befriend him or the two others, and he was alone in a place where no one accepted him.

"Where the hell did he get that knife?" Hanji angrily ask as she points it out to Erwin.

"What can I say Hanji, he has quick hands." Was all he could reply as he concentrated applying pressure to the small wrist; blood flowing never ending. With the amount of pressure being placed, the bleeding should be stopping but it wasn't as frustration build up.

"Out of the way!"

The voice of Mike booming in the hallway as he came in with a doctor. The man quickly wasted no time in taking over as he ordered salted water to be given to him to which Nanaba quickly complied and left in a fast pace.

"Can you save him?" Erwin nervously asked the old man who was now inspecting the cuts.

"Yes… The cuts are poorly made, he missed the ulnar artery in both wrists. Good thing because he would have bled out by now." The old man answers, not removing his attention to the task at hand. "Ahhhh. Thank you girl." He adds as he takes the bucket of water from Nanaba, not wasting time soaking clean cotton fabric in the salted water and placing one on each wrist, tighten his old with his old hands who still had plenty of strength left.

"What will this do?" Hanji curiously asks as she watches the doctor work.

"Salt and water together helps coagulate and stop the bleeding. Salt helps to prevent infection…" He answered, keeping his gaze on the young man's wrist. After a few minutes, he silently removes the blood soaked cloths and takes two new ones, submerges them in the salty water and places them back on each wrist. He does this several times, each time the cloth is less bloody until no blood is coming out. A small smile forms on the old man's face as he washes the dried blood around the wound and bandages before he turns his attention to Levi's face and slightly unbuttons his shirt.

"His maturity is slow…" He calmly blurted out as he continued examining the young man, of which Erwin gave no deal of. He preferred the doctor makes sure that they were not missing anything else but was rather confused when the doctor was inspecting the interior of Levi's mouth.

"Is there something wrong doctor?" He asked trying to look as calm as possible while ignoring the puzzled faces of his colleagues.

"His wisdom teeth as not yet come…" He answers closing the raven boy's mouth, slowly standing on his old feet, placing his attention towards the confused Erwin, his face serious as he spoke. "This is a child… I give him sixteen at best."

Erwin thanked the doctor; ignoring the disapproval stare the old man gave him but said nothing more as he watched the doctor leave. He quickly ordered to the spectators to get back to their duties before he placed his attention back towards Levi who was filthy of his own blood. Was Levi really just a child?

"What now?" Hanji asked.

"Nothing." He answered as he takes Levi in his arms and leaves the room, followed by Mike and Hanji. He could not take the chance of leaving Levi alone, he had done a mistake of letting him out of his sight just for a minute, and he would not make another mistake.

Mike opened the door of the quarter they shared as Erwin entered placing Levi on his bed, removing the blood stained shirt and pants.

Hanji enters, sits on a chair in the corner in the room, watching Erwin place a sheet on the boy once he had washed the blood off the boy. "This won't stand with Parliament. They will surely say something about this."

Erwin looks at Hanji, her preoccupation was understandable, she brought out a good point but he would also have a good point when the time comes, he just needed to think about it and quickly. "Leave it to me Hanji, I will figure something out."

* * *

Voices rang through his mind, echoing in the distant; the darkness that had engulfed him was slowly releasing its grasp of his mind. His vision was blurry as he opened his eyes, the light of a small fire in the fireplace was causing his eyes to ache from the lack of light they had had. His gaze wandered around the room, he saw Hanji sitting in a chair in the right corner next to Erwin who seemed to be writing something at his desk. He turned his gaze to his left, Mike was sleeping on his back on the bed next to his.

Other than the people in the room, he did not recognize the quarter, it surely was not his. A soft groan escape his throat when sharp pain came to his wrist, alerting Erwin and Hanji he was awake much to his dismay. He was supposed to be dead, he was supposed to have bled out by now and yet he was laying here in someone else's bed.

"Finally. You've been unconscious for the last two hours." Erwin's strong voice killed the silence in the room as he got on his feet, making his way towards the bed sitting on the side. His facial expression was softer than usual.

"I'll do it again too." The words were shaky as he spoke, Levi could feel his eyes water again as tears flowed down his face. He felt angry and yet he was too exhausted to fight, he was tired of it all; his eyes fixed on Erwin of which he could not explain why. The older man always bearing that same soft expression as he brings his hands to Levi's face to wipe the tears.

"There is no better place after death; once you're dead, it's over." His voice soft and clear. "Life is too precious just to throw away so meaninglessly, those who have died today…" He pauses, cupping Levi's face in his hands. "Would love to have the life you have right now. You need to live for them, we all must. That's what the Scouting Legion is, we are all in this grim hell together until the bitter end." Erwin gently strokes Levi's face , sliding it to rest his hand on the boy's raven hair. "No more talk about death, now rest… We have things to talk about tomorrow."


End file.
